OUR GREAT RUN IN THE VASE COMES TO AN END

There was a lot of expectation and excitement at the Grass Roots Stadium at the prospect of entertaining Saffron Waldron Town in the 3rd Round Proper of the FA Vase. After all our best results have come in this prestigious national competition, with 4 wins on the trot, all away, including a thumping 4-0 victory at Cockfosters who play in the same league as our guests from Essex.

Perhaps the expectation was too great because we unfortunately failed to turn up or perhaps history was against us because in the 18 seasons we have previously appeared in the Vase we have only ever got through to the 4th Round Proper on two occasions, namely in 2017 and 2018.
Whatever the reason for our poor performance Saffron Waldron were worthy winners and will deservedly see their name go in the hat along with 31 other clubs on Monday for the draw for the next round.

Our best scoring opportunities came in the first few minutes of the game when Chris Blunden found a way through the oppositions defence, but it was a long run to goal and a defender managed to get back and get a tackle in. Then we produced a super move up the right wing which presented John Smith with a sight of goal, but his powerful shot failed to hit the target.

After that we failed to create any genuine scoring chances and the away keeper didnt have a serious save to make. Our opponents dominated possession and looked dangerous going forward but we managed to give our new keeper Jake Alley a fair bit of protection with some sound defending.

Unfortunately the only goal of the game arrived in added time at the end of the first half and showed a bit of naivety in our play. When we should have been running the clock down to half time we gave the ball away cheaply in midfield which allowed our opponents to quickly counter attack and score through Gavin Cockman.

We did improve in the second half and we did show a lot of resilience which managed to keep the deficit down to just one goal but we were always chasing the game and we didnt put our guests under enough pressure so they were able to see the game out quite easily.
Congratulations to Saffron Waldron on their merited victory and we wish them all the best in the next round.

Our next fixture sees us in cup action again when we visit Bovingdon in the Challenge Trophy on Saturday. Our hosts are second in Division 2 and have clocked up 6 wins on the bounce so they will be tough opponents.

Finally we should mention that we had two players from our Under 18 Team on the bench namely Ellis Coffie and George Wainwright with the latter coming on for his First Team debut. It is encouraging to see youngsters come through to the First Team and bodes well for the future and David Lawless and his team deserve a lot of credit for the great work they are doing with our youngsters.

Teams

TA: Jake Alley, Harrison Cornick (Luke Peerless 74), Manny Gbejuade, Tommy Twelves, Frankie Hercules, Chris Blunden, Kieran Turner (Capt), George Carbery, Scott Bonner, Adiel Mannion (George Wainwright 74), John Smith. Subs not used: Ben Johnson, Ellis Coffie, Jonny Pitts, Adam Sawyer.

SWT: James Young, Scott Pethers (Capt), James Solkhon, Jake Noble, Matt Hurley, George Pullen, Craig Calver, Michael Toner, Joe Pullen, Scott Piggott, Gavin Cockman (Kurtis Oti 87). Subs not used: Jamie Riley, Charlie Smith, Stan Leech, Charlie Dicker, Ruemu Abuton

Crowd: 150

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