Season 2014/15 - 3rd Round Proper

Here is my round up of the FA Vase 3rd Round Proper featuring my game at Brantham Leisure Centre, my first visit to the ground, for Brantham Athletic v Yaxley. Here’s what happened:-

The Journey
Quite an easy journey to be honest. Caught a train from Southend Victoria to Shenfield, then after a bit of a wait and a coffee break caught another train from Shenfield to Manningtree, which is a twenty minute walk from Brantham Leisure Centre. Journey time of approximately 2 hours on the trains so I arrived at the ground after a nice walk in the sunshine at around 13:45. I was greeted by an official just outside the turnstile who after realising who I was (had done a nice report for them in my previous write up) paid for me to get into the ground, which was an amazing gesture. Once inside the ground I chatted to another Brantham official and also a Yaxley supporter, who was the father of the keeper, and this really made me feel welcome. Such a friendly club.

The Ground

The facilities are decent with a good sized bar (pictured above) and TV’s with live sports on (Newcastle v Chelsea was on while I was in there). They also have a tea bar serving the normal hot and cold refreshments and I bought a cheeseburger and chips for around £4, which wasn’t bad as the portion was quite decent. The teams are put up outside on the glass windows (pictured above) so this was a big help too. The ground itself has one main wooden stand behind the dugouts (pictured above) and a small temporary seated stand behind one of the goals to the right hand side. The rest of the ground is just single standing and the far side is just roped off from the pitches behind it. I chose to sit in the main stand which gives a decent view of the action.

The Match
Brantham Athletic 1 Yaxley 3 (FA Vase 3rd Round Proper, Saturday 6th December 2014)
Brantham had the perfect start when they scored from the first attack on 2 minutes. After they won a corner this was swung into the box by Lawler and Jack Cawley connected with it and sent a looping header into the far corner of the net to give the Suffolk side the ideal start. This almost became a dream start when they could and should of made it two a minute later as both Webb and Ollie Mann saw efforts brilliantly saved by Butcher as the home side started on the front foot. Yaxley managed to get forward on 8 minutes when a quick free kick caught the Brantham defence out but after Cobb and had squared the ball to the edge of the box Hughes could only slice the ball miles wide for a throw on. The next ten or so minutes became scrappy as both teams struggled on the bobbly surface and both teams lacked quality as passes kept going astray. On 20 minutes Brantham won a free kick outside the box and this was well struck by Ollie Mann but it went straight down Butchers throat. A minute later the home side came forward again and Ollie Mann played in Beecham on the right hand side but he screwed his shot wide of the near post. Just before the half hour Brantham tested the Yaxley backline out again when a good run forward by Nobbs ended with the ball falling to Beecham on the edge of the area but again he could only slice his effort well wide of the target. The game was still fairly scrappy although the home side were creating the better chances thus far. As the half wound down Yaxley did start to play some decent football in Brantham’s half although they were lacking that killer touch in the box. On 43 minutes Cobb volleyed just wide for the visitors and then a minute later good play from Yaxley ended with Cotton’s effort being well held by Fowler, who hadn’t had much to do in the first half if truth be told. So at the half the scoreline read Brantham Athletic 1 Yaxley 0.

Brantham had the first sniff of goal a minute into the second half when a long ball found Ollie Mann who ran at goal but his effort was straight at Butcher. The same man had another effort on goal three minutes later when he got in again but this time a defender came across to see out the danger. In between all this Yaxley did come out with more attacking threat and on 50 minutes levelled the tie at 1-1 when a cross to the back post was headed back into the danger zone and Rob Hughes managed to poke the ball high past Fowler’s outstretched arms and into the net. The galvanized the away side who were cracking up the pressure somewhat and a minute later they had another effort on goal, this time from Cotton, but it was saved by Fowler. Yaxley were now dominating the match and looking very menicing in attack and Brantham really had to dig deep to stay in the game. Chances became few and far between as Brantham seemed to have weathered the Yaxley storm and it was becoming a good old fashioned cup tie, with a great battle ensuing. Yaxley always seemed to be the likely team to get the next goal however and on 81 minutes they grabbed the lead with a great solo effort from full back Luke Hipwell, picking the ball up and running at the Brantham back line before eventually cutting inside and drilling a low shot past Fowler at his near post, sending the Yaxley boys wild with delight and celebrating with the bench right in front of the main stand I was sitting in. It was a deserved lead however as they had been the better side in the second half. On 84 minutes Yaxley had a chance to kill the tie when a cross was headed towards Carter by Gibbs but keeper Fowler managed to smother the ball before Carter could strike at goal. Brantham tried their best to get back into the contest but found any attacks repelled by the Yaxley back line and with two minutes to go were caught on the break when a cross field ball found Dan Cottonclean through on the right hand side and he slotted the ball past Fowler to send the Peterborough side through to the Last 32 and set up a tie away at Erith & Belvedere. Full time Brantham Athletic 1 Yaxley 3

Brantham Athletic: 1. Fowler 2. Sibbons 3. Nobbs 4. Norfolk 5. Cawley 6. Travis (c) 7. Lawler 8. Webb 9. Ollie Mann 10. Townrow 11. Beecham
Subs: 12. Simon Mann 14. Page 15. Kiwomya 16. Shaikly 17. Hawkins

Yaxley: 1. Butcher 2. Duncliffe 3. Hipwell 4. Nolan 5. Cooke 6. Morris 7. Cobb 8. Clarke 9. Carter 10. Hughes 11. Cotton
Subs: 12. Stone 14. Hailstone 15. Hook 16. Furnell 17. Gibbs

Referee: S Parmenter
Assistants: D Buhagiar & M Osbourne

Att: 80

Here are some photos from the match:-

Post Match
Well I had some time to kill so wondered back into the clubhouse where I spoke with a couple of Brantham folk, who were very friendly as everyone else had been during the day. And when I asked for a taxi I was pointed over to a gentleman who called it for me on his mobile, brilliant!!! (I needed a taxi as it was too dark to walk along road to station!!!). Caught the 6pm train back to Shenfield and finally home just before nine. A throughly enjoyable day, made even more enjoyable by the club. What a fantastic club Brantham is, very welcoming and I’ll definitely visit again.
3rd Round Proper Results
Saturday 6th December
Whitley Bay 1 Dunston UTS 2
1874 Northwich 0 Glossop North End 3
Shaw Lane Aquaforce p-p Shildon
Chadderton 2 Newcastle Benfield 1
Seaham Red Star 2 North Shields 4
St Helens Town 2 Tadcaster Albion 4
Consett 3 Marske United 2 (aet)
Worksop Town 2 Westfields 1
Thurnby Nirvana 2 Bromsgrove Sporting 1
Bolehill Swifts 0 Brocton 5
Wisbech Town 2 Walsall Wood 3
Deeping Rangers 1 Heanor Town 2 (aet)
Saffron Walden Town 1 AFC Dunstable 0
Hullbridge Sports p-p Great Yarmouth Town
St Margaretsbury 0 Stanway Rovers 2
Peterborough Northern Star 2 Flackwell Heath 3
Tring Athletic 0 Norwich United 1
London Colney 0 Holbeach United 1
Brantham Athletic 1 Yaxley 3
Hanworth Villa 0 Erith & Belvedere 2
Alresford Town 1 Phoenix Sports 2
Horley Town 1 Greenwich Borough 3
AFC Portchester 0 Tunbridge Wells 1
Colliers Wood United 9 Lingfield 2
Ascot United 3 Newport IOW 0
Littlehampton Town 3 Ashford United 3 (aet)
Melksham Town 3 Shepton Mallet 2
Blackfield & Langley 0 Highworth Town 1
AFC St Austell 6 Verwood Town 1
Buckland Athletic 1 Bodmin Town 4
Bradford Town 4 Odd Down 3

Sunday 7th December
Mickleover Royals 0 AFC Mansfield 1

Tuesday 9th December
Shaw Lane Aquaforce p-p Shildon
Hullbridge Sports 1 Great Yarmouth Town 0
Ashford United 2 Littlehampton Town 1

So just one tie still outstanding and that is the one between Shaw Lane Aquaforce and Shildon. It has been postponed twice due to an unplayable pitch so they will try again next Tuesday (16th).

The draw for the 4th Round Proper was made on Monday and here it is in full:-
Saturday 17th January
Walsall Wood v Shaw Lane Aquaforce/Shildon
North Shields v Consett AFC
Thurnby Nirvana v Holbeach United
Chadderton v AFC Mansfield
Worksop Town v Glossop North End
Heanor Town v Dunston UTS
Tadcaster Albion v Brocton
Bodmin Town v Phoenix Sports
Stanway Rovers v Saffron Walden Town
Ascot United v Colliers Wood United
Bradford Town v Melksham Town
Ashford United v Norwich United
Greenwich Borough v AFC St Austell
Flackwell Heath v Hullbridge Sports
Highworth Town v Tunbridge Wells

Sunday 18th January
Erith & Belvedere v Yaxley

So that concludes my review of the 3rd Round. My next venture is the Sunday afternoon showing between Erith & Belvedere and Yaxley at Welling United’s Park View Road ground, as they ground share with the Vanarama Conference side. I will bring you a review of the 4th Round just before the weekend of January 17th. Until then chao for now!!!