FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round & Replays - Monday/Tuesday 7/8 August

[Rhodes]

With apologies for the delay in posting, the three postponed ties and two of the four replays from Saturday's drawn ties, involving SSML Club's, take place this evening with Aylesbury Vale Dynamos v Tuffley Rovers unfortunately postponed, good luck to Real Bedford, Baldock Town, Harpenden Town, Potton United and St Panteleimon. Many congratulations to Colney Heath who already won their replay at Ilford last night:

Monday 7 August 

FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round Replay

Ilford 1 Colney Heath 2

Tuesday 8 August – (all kick off 7.45pm)

FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round

FC Clacton v Real Bedford
Little Oakley v Baldock Town
Stanway Rovers v Harpenden  Town

FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round Replays

Aylesbury Vale Dynamos P Tuffley Rovers (now scheduled for Tuesday 15 August)
Potton United v Desborough Town
Witham Town v St Panteleimon

Edited August 8, 2023 by Rhodes

[Rhodes]

Last night's results, disappointing for Baldock Town, Harpenden  Town and St Panteleimon:

Tuesday 8 August

FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round

FC Clacton 2 Real Bedford 2
Little Oakley 3 Baldock Town 1
Stanway Rovers 3 Harpenden  Town 1

FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round Replays

Aylesbury Vale Dynamos P Tuffley Rovers (now scheduled for Tuesday 15 August)
Potton United 1 Desborough Town 1 (Potton United win 5-4 on pens)
Witham Town 1 St Panteleimon 0

[Rhodes]

2 hours ago, Rhodes said:

Monday 7 August

FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round Replay

Ilford 1 Colney Heath 2

A groundhopper from another Forum was in attendance:

lIford 1 v 2 Colney Heath - FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round Replay
Programme 24 pages £2.00 - Admission £4.00 (c) - Att. Nothing official seen but in the region of 225
Good that the hosts managed to produce their normal programme for a replay at such short notice. One of the advantages of having your edition produced by one of the companies that specialise in producing programmes. In this instance MK Publications. Publication heavily promoted on Twitter and the understanding was that it sold out.
Much has been made since the start of the new season about the amount of additional time that is added onto matches and the understanding from the first match that a replay was only possible due to a Colney Heath leveller many minutes into stoppage time. The visitors successfully negotiated the replay primarily due to the fact that they posed the greater threat in the final third. As was the case when Ilford were previously seen seven days prior they lumbered to little effect in the final third and for most of the contest the primary source of their threat was the crosses from Josh Boxall on the right and on too many occasions his crosses were either wayward or sent straight into the hands of Connor Sansom in the visitors goal.
A long long evening with that additional extra time and penalties fear was apparent amongst many of our gruppe and in the opening minutes those fears gave the impression that they were going to manifest themselves Tobi James-Okotiki came off worse after a heavy collision which left him requiring extensive treatment before it became apparent that he could take no further part in proceedings. A minute played and five additional minutes to add on.
The visitors had slightly the better of the opening exchanges taking advantage of the occasional lack of defensive cover from the Ilford defence, this was apparent when a penetrative run from Billy Owen which should have been closed down as he ran across the penalty area saw the ball run loose allowing Jordan Kinoshi to take advantage of the situation and place his shot between Ben Loftus' dive and the latter's left hand post. Kinoshi was unfortunate not to double the visitors lead but his shot struck the post and Owen was spared his blushes as he was unable to convert the close range rebound by the linesman raising his flag for offside.
Plenty of effort from Ilford but possession was too frequently conceded though Boxall did send over a couple of good crosses one of which was gathered under pressure by Sansom. The hosts leveller had more than a degree of good fortune as a cross from Jack Griggs was met by an attempted sliding clearance by Jamie Willing where the aim I am sure was to direct over the byline for a corner, instead he misdirected his clearance in that it beat Sansom's dive for one of the more notable oggies seen in recent months. The period after the Ilford equaliser was the period when the hosts looked the better of the two teams, however there was little discernible threat to the Colney Heath goal even taking into account the additional seven minutes played which given the earlier lengthy stoppage was about what was expected.
Restart timed at 20.57 causing further concern for those who had lengthy return journeys and there was little indication over the duration of the second period that the two teams would be inseverable. A decent free kick from Joe Lilly was directed narrowly over the bar for the hosts but a further shot on this occasion struck by Mattock was far nearer to Lane 7 of the surrounding running track than to the Colney Heath goal. There was also little in the way of a noticeable threat from the visitors, however they took the lead with one of their few attacks in the second half when Owen accelerated to leave Griggs trailing and he angled his shot past Loftus into the corner to the delight of the sizeable grouping of visiting supporters and also to the obvious relief of those who had travelled who had travelled from far and wide and there was now the likelihood that they would be able to arrive home without boarding TFL night buses. Little threat from Ilford to the visitors lead and on the occasions when they had possession in a potentially dangerous area the possession was promptly lost. Plenty of stoppage time and it was close to 21.50 before the visitors win was confirmed and a home tie against FC Romania (whose representatives were closely watching proceedings) awaits.
Return journey was without incident with their thankfully there being no recently deceased rodents lying on Loxford pavements. The weeks c2c services are subject to engineering works and two passing freight trains at Barking delayed departures meaning that it was 23.25 when the Riverbank locks were turned.

[Rhodes]

23 hours ago, Rhodes said:

Tuesday 8 August

FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Stanway Rovers v Harpenden  Town

A groundhopper from another Forum was present:

Stanway Rovers 3 v 1 Harpenden Town - FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Programme 20 pages £2.00. Not surprisingly the edition prepared for Saturdays game - Admission £8.00 (nc) - Att. No official figure seen but in the region of 175.
Partially there was a need to exorcise the searing memories of the previous Tuesdays animosities at a nearby Stanway cage though in addition the deluge that struck North Essex/South Suffolk on Saturday which led to the pp of the originally scheduled meeting between these two teams seventy five minutes before kick off did provide an opportunity. Due to the possibility of extra time and penalties it would be not be feasible to attend an actual replay.
An infinitely more enjoyable contest than what was the case half a mile away seven days prior. Still plenty of robust challenges but without the constant whingeing and faux pain of the players plus there was the luxury of being able to sit on the opposite site to the dugouts, though it has to be said that there were plenty of protestations from each bench which could be heard on the opposite side.
The result gives the indication that this was a fairly straightforward win for the hosts but Harpenden would feel a little aggrieved by the final outcome as they created as many chances as their opponents but a combination of wayward finishing plus an excellent display from Alfie Marigliani between the posts for Stanway Rovers was ultimately the difference.
Initially it was Alex Desmond, Marigliani's goalkeeping counterpart was the busier of the two keepers and his early tendency to adopt a sweepers tole in clearing upfield gave the impression that even when the option was available in his own penalty area, Desmond was reluctant to use his hands, At the other end Harry Andic angled a clear chance several yards wide of the home post after an excellent through pass from Dan Keenleyside. Miss proved costly as soon after the hosts took the lead after a free kick from Sonny Bastone which was struck straight into the wall took a massive deflection off of the back of a defender into the path of Kieran Southgate who toe ended the loose ball past Desmond. The hosts were then denied a second goal as Freddie King had strayed slightly offside when he touched in from close range after a rare error from Desmond who had allowed a shot to slip out of his grasp. The half time thoughts were that although Stanway Rovers were deserving of their half time lead, there was plenty of scope for the visitors to retrieve the situation.
There was plenty of early possession from Harpenden in the opening minutes of the second half giving the impression that they were more than capable of levelling. One notable problem was that on several occasions crosses from either flank were sent behind the onrushing forwards and in addition when the approach led to an effort on goal it inevitably led to shots being directed straight at Marigliani as was the case with a powerful volley from Spencer O'Leary which surely would have found the net if it had been a yard either side of the Stanway keeper.
No such difficulties for the hosts as one precise flowing move established a two goal advantage with an excellent pass up the left flank saw King send over a low cross which was expertly angled just inside the far posf from close range by Southgate. The next twenty minutes saw the visitors best period of the evening but firstly their lack of direction with their shooting cost them as Gleeson sliced wide from close range and secondly there was a succession of good saves from Marigliani including a one handed dive to his right to push away an angled shot from Kyle Rahho which was heading just inside the far post.
There was a brief interlude of antagonism giving the impression that the previous Tuesdays unpleasantries were going to be repeated when completely unnecessarily Joe Debell followed through on Desmond when he had possession and pushed him to the ground, an incident that many officials would have seen as worthy of a straight red. However, Debell was fortunate that the official in question was of a lenient disposition and let him off with a lesser punishment.
The hosts passage into the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup was assured with a third goal when an improvised pass from Southgate when he was on the ground gave Olwatobi Adekunle a shooting opportunity from the edge of the area which found the net with Desmond showing a hint of disappointment that Adekunle's shot went through his fingers as he attempted to save.
For all their efforts a three goal deficit was particularly harsh on the visitors and they deservedly pulled a goal back when Gleeson's run down the left and subsequent veer to the by line saw his low cross touched in by close range by Ivan Machado(?). The additional time would have been even closer if Josh Dooley had been able to direct his header from Spencer O'Leary's cross goalwards instead of wide of the far post. Overall the solitary goal that the visitors obtained was a matter of too little too late. The hosts win pits them with a short trip down the A12 against Witham Town in the Preliminary Round, the receding memory seems to recall that this is an FA Cup coupling that has happened on at least one occasion prior.
The rain fell yet again over the course of a day that felt more like early October than the opening days of August but apart from a very intense spell of rainfall just prior and over the course of half time there was no danger of the contest starting or reaching its conclusion with the well grassed pitch coping with the rainfall.
The Hawthorns was a venue during the noughties that was visited approximately once every two seasons though this was the first visit since 2009. There is a rustic charm to the venue with cover on all four sides though it must be stressed that the areas which are covered are narrow, stand is of a certain vintage though it was difficult to find a seat that was not wet. Interesting to note a completely different age demograph relating to the support and officials to what was seen the previous week, clearly a club that caters for those of a more traditional disposition.
Arrived into Stanway circa 17.30 though spent too long around the aisles of the local Sainsburys undertaking the banal but necessary task of purchasing replacement tea towels. Unlike the previous week, The Live and Let Live in nearby Millers Lane was located and an unremarkable pint of Wibblers Brewery Isla Rose was consumed. Given the autumnal nature of the evening it may have been more apt to partake with the Tindall Brewery Mild.
Return journey repeated the walk along a very busy A604 with traffic rerouted due to the A12 being closed northbound, though unlike the previous Tuesday there was no need for a burst of pace to catch the returning service. Straightforward interchange onto c2c services midweek rerouted through Stratford, though it was forty five minutes into Wednesday that The Riverbank locks were finally turned.

Edited August 9, 2023 by Rhodes