Posted by DavidB on September 2, 2007, 9:17 pm, in reply to "Andover 3-4 City: A View From The Terraces"
Another fine and accurate report Chris. You must give credit to Andover for their tremendous fightback, also to OCFC for fighting to the end after losing 3 key players and Mark Jones for playing through an injury to the final whistle. A thoroughly nail biting last quarter. Who are City's next opponents in the next round does anybody know??
--Previous Message--
:
:
: ALEX STEWART PUTS CITY 3-0 UP FROM THE
: PENALTY SPOT
:
: So the start of another FA cup campaign
: arrives for City. Will it be an early
: dismissal or another run to the First Round?
: Certainly the two pre-drawn rounds have not
: been kind to the club but morale is high at
: the moment and we seem to be among the
: goals.
: Andover attacked from the start, needing to
: show their supporters that there is no
: ‘hangover’ from last week’s home mauling at
: the hands of Bridgwater, and forced two
: early corners which City scrambled away,
: while Adam Heath went close with a shot as
: the Oxford defence backed off.
: City’s first attack came on ten minutes as
: James Faulkner latched on to a ball down the
: right and fired in a good cross that
: Jermaine McSporran was only just unable to
: convert, and, almost immediately, a
: well-flighted free kick from Mark Jones
: caused a few nervous moments in the Lions’
: defence.
: With only 15 minutes gone City were forced
: into an early substitution as Faulkner
: limped off to be replaced by Ikechi Anya,
: and almost immediately a pained Andy Gunn
: was forced to follow him towards the dugout,
: bringing manager Merritt into the action.
: With Mark Avery already an absentee this
: left City with a back four with a very
: makeshift look about it – and a long time to
: play - so a good time to score to settle the
: nerves. Pete Weirich put a good ball over
: the top on the City left and Anya sped
: past the last defender into the area and
: calmly placed his shot beyond Hook’s dive on
: 22 minutes.
: Andover came back down the hill and twice in
: as many minutes ex-Wallingford mid-fielder
: Lee Chudy went close to levelling the
: scores, the second effort bringing a
: particularly good save from Gareth Tucker.
: Around the half-hour mark City had an
: extended spell of pressure: Steve Davis’ run
: took him into the box but his near-post shot
: found the side-netting; and Mark Jones’
: free-kick was flicked on to George Redknap
: in a good position but just offside.
: With ten minutes of the half left the City’s
: injury list reached ridiculous proportions
: as Ikechi Anya hit the ground in full flight
: clutching the back of his unstrapped leg
: and, although he attempted to continue after
: some lengthy physio work, he joined the
: walking wounded on the bench and Alex
: Stewart made an earlier than expected
: entrance.
: The final exchanges of the half saw a
: full-blooded dipping shot by Darren Pond
: pushed over by Hook at full stretch, and
: Matt Styles break through dangerously at the
: lower end only to be pulled back by a raised
: flag.
:
: HALF-TIME: ANDOVER 0-1 CITY
:
: City started strongly coming down the hill
: in the second period and Jermaine McSporran
: lashed a shot just beyond Hook’s left-hand
: post before having another shot pushed
: behind five minutes into the half. A good
: delivery from the corner found an unmarked
: Justin Merritt near the penalty spot with
: plenty of time to plant his header firmly
: between the keeper and the defender on the
: post. At this point City looked to have the
: game comfortably in their pockets as Davis
: robbed a defender and put in a good cross
: that just eluded his team-mates; Pond chased
: what looked a lost cause to the goal line
: but, again, the cross found only red shirts;
: and, from a neat cross from Jones, Liam
: Malone headed just beyond the post.
: On 65 minutes City deservedly stretched
: their lead when, after a mazy run, McSporran
: was fouled by Damen and, after a brief
: consultation between referee and assistant,
: a penalty was confirmed, though the foul was
: arguably just outside the box. Hook guessed
: correctly about the direction of Stewart ’s
: no-nonsense spot-kick but it had more than
: enough power to increase the lead. Two
: minutes later and it looked as though City
: had the result sewn up as Stewart crashed a
: header against the bar from a corner and
: Mat Davies in attempt to clear the danger
: could only fire the ball into the roof of
: his own net. So, four-nil and coasting, and
: perhaps the new-look City defence thought
: their job was over for the day. Andover,
: however, 0-4 down for the second successive
: Saturday, showed great character and
: produced a fight-back that almost produced
: the impossible.
: On 71 minutes a Keogh free-kick from the
: City right was taken well by Phil Andrews
: in the area and he turned and shot cleanly
: beyond Tucker’s dive for what many might
: have thought would be merely a consolation
: goal. A minute later in the next attack,
: though, Swayne found himself unmarked on
: the edge of the box and shot home. City
: supporters were becoming a little jittery
: now, and nervousness turned to full-blown
: panic two minutes later when Matt Styles
: had time and space to fire across Tucker and
: into the far corner. Could City snatch a
: draw from the jaws of victory?!
: Certainly it was a very uncomfortable final
: fifteen minutes as Andover threw everything
: forward scenting all was not lost. With
: everyone committed to attack it was not
: surprising that City had two or three
: chances against a depleted home defence as
: the clock ticked down, and Stewart should,
: perhaps, have made the tie certain when
: McSporran squared the ball to him in a good
: position, but his first-time strike lacked
: power and Hook saved easily.
: The final whistle came after four minutes of
: extra time as a free-kick taken by the
: Andover keeper was just held by his opposite
: number in the City goal, and adrenaline
: levels and blood pressures could finally
: drop back to something nearer normal.
:
: FULL TIME: ANDOVER 3-4 OXFORD CITY
:
: Andover : Hook, Keogh, Martin, Damen,
: Morse (Andrews 45) , Davies, Chudy, Swayne
: (Cooper 81) , Heath, Styles, Asker.
: City : Tucker, Redknap, Weirich, Gunn
: (Merritt 18) , Pond, Saulsbury, Jones,
: Malone, McSporran, Faulkner (Anya 15
: (Stewart 38)) , Davis.
:
: An amazing game! Any neutrals watching must
: have enjoyed what they saw, but committed
: supporters couldn’t cope with too many games
: like that in a season! With all those
: injuries it was as well City hung on for the
: victory, giving a week rather than three
: days for the physios to work their magic
: before the next match.
:
:
:
:
: TOO LATE ... ANDOVER DEFENDERS SPOT JUSTIN
: MERRITT AS HE ARRIVES TO HEAD CITY'S SECOND
:
:
:
: A FAULKNER CROSS IS ALMOST CONVERTED BY
: McSPORRAN EARLY ON
:
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