The 4th round of the Berks & Bucks cup saw the lads travel to Eton Playing Fields to play in the shadow of Windsor castle against New Windsor Youth. Having seen Windsor’s form, this was likely to be a close, hard game and if the lads were not concentrating from the start then the game could be out of reach very quickly.
Wickham kicked off and almost immediately gave the ball away as it was hit directly to the ref. Windsor, playing with the wind, seemed to have the best of the initial stages as it was a slow start by the lads. Fortunately the back 4 were looking solid and James was not really tested. Time flew by with the first Wickham chance coming in the 8th minute. Callum worked the ball down the left, chipped it into the middle where Charlie flicked it on into Albie’s path. He hit a rasping shot which, unlike Geoff Hurst’s hit the underside of the bar and came out. In the 11th minute a Windsor throw in was won by Duncan who laid the ball off to Callum. He again went down the left, before tucking the ball inside for Ablie. He seemed to be squeezed out by the defenders but as the keeper came out Albie was able to block the clearance which cannoned over the keeper and gave Albie the chance to run round to put the ball into the back of the net for 1-0. In the 17th minute Windsor had the first corner of the game which was played short but Duncan won the ball, playing it out to the left. Here Karl and Callum combined before Karl whipped the cross in, but Albie’s volley went over the top. Despite the wind Wickham were dominating and 2 minutes later some lovely interplay between Jesse, Karl and Albie ended with a cross coming in which Charlie just failed to apply the finishing touch to. Wickham won their first corner after 25 minutes but Bert’s header just went just over and wide.
Despite Wickham having, the now stronger, wind on their backs Windsor, as expected, came out strongly. However after 30 seconds Albie put Charlie through but the keeper made a great save. Windsor went straight on the attack pulling Wickham’s defence all over the place but eventually William cleared the ball up field. Wickham were now playing on the counter attack and in the 5th minute Jack sent Albie away, he cut into the box but again the keeper made the save. Windsor were now pushing hard and after 8 minutes the Wickham defence were all dragged across to the right leaving two Windsor players unmarked in the centre. As the ball came across to them Duncan made a timely tackle to clear the danger. With 13 minute gone the inevitable happened. Following a breakdown of a Wickham attack, Windsor broke down their right. First Duncan and then Olly were beaten by the winger, Bert came across but was beaten for pace but William got the tackle in; unfortunately the ball ricochet of the attacker and set him free. Having got close to the by line he had two team mates to pick out with only Jack to defend them and sure enough the ball was fired home. In the 15th minute Albie was beautifully put through the middle by Jesse but as he approached the edge of the box he was brought down. His free kick was heading towards the corner of the goal but the keeper got across to make the save. A minute later Albie got through again but this time his shot just went over the bar. In the 21st minute some interplay between Jesse and Albie saw a cross come in which Callum’s loopy header went over the keeper but also the bar. Another attack down the right saw the ball fired into Charlie at the near post but the defender just got to the ball first. The resulting corner it was partially cleared out to William, who drilled the ball towards the goal but unfortunately straight at the keeper. The goal kick was again won back by Wickham and then put back into the box where Charlie and Duncan battled for the ball. Eventually it was squared out to Callum on the apex of the 18 yard box who hit a dipping, bending shot into the top left hand corner. Wickham continued to create chances but could not get the third goal to kill the game off, until eventually, in the dying seconds, a throw by Olly went down the line to Callum. He played the ball to Jesse who crossed it into the box where Charlie hit it. The keeper made a partial stop but the ball slipped under his body and Charlie raced round to slam it into the net. There was only just time for Windsor to kick off, thus Wickham had won this highly competitive game 3-1 and progress to the quarter finals.
Player of the Day Trophy was not awarded to anyone as this was seen as a great team effort by everyone, with it being possible to make a case for most of the players to win it. The next round on 3rd February is a home match against either Newport Pagnell or Kennington from the Oxford Mail League.
James Davies
Jack Bolton, Bert Cherrill, William Herrington, Olly Sopp
Albie Oakman, Karl Admans, Duncan Lorraine, Jesse Bowers
Charlie de Fraine, Callum Johnson
Subs:- Jordan Shaw, Aiden Weeks, Tom Farman, Ollie Norman, Ben Cipolla
