The first of the back to back semi finals saw Ferndale Rodbourne come over to the triangle for the League Cup semi.
Wickham were the attacking force during the first half as Ferndale seemed to initially be playing a 4-6-0 formation only occasionally having a player up front. In the second minute Wickham attacked with Duncan down the left. He put Callum in behind the full back but his cross evaded everyone in the box. Jack Bolton came screaming in but his shot went powerfully into the side netting. Wickham continued to attack but after 9 minutes possibly Ferndale’s first attack came down their right. As the cross came into the box the forward was off side but he did neatly clip the ball into the back of the net. More Wickham pressure followed but the midfield was a very congested area. After 14 minutes Jack feed Jesse down the right. He cut into the box and squared the ball in but a brave diving block from the keeper ensured the danger was cut out. A minute later one of the Ferndale players picked up an injury and had to go off reducing them to 10 men. Could Wickham take advantage of the one man down. In the 18th minute a corner came out to Karl but his return shot cleared the bar. Two minute later Albie went on a massy run being pulled down in the “D”. He took the resulting free kick which clipped the top of the wall, Charlie headed the ball forwards which then saw Callum’s shot hit the side netting. Another Wickham corner in the 24th minute brought about the first goal of the game. Ferndale cleared the ball which seemed to spin back into the advancing midfield players path. He raced through on goal with William and Olly chasing back. William got the tackle in which came back off the forward onto Olly and the back to the forward again who tucked the ball inside James’ left hand post. A minute later Callum seemed to have equalised but his dipping shot hit the top of the bar and went over. Just after this Ferndale got back to full strength and went in at half time 1-0 up.
The second half was again all Wickham with Ferndale pulling everyone behind the ball. It was vital that Wickham go the ball wide to try to get behind the defenders. During the first 10 minutes all the play was in the Ferndale half but they continued to look dangerous on the break and sure enough after 15 minutes a break away again saw William chasing back and he was able to get a great tackle in squirting the ball out to Olly to clear. Wickham were firing the ball out to the right but Albie had drifted into the middle so Jesse and Jack were doing the work down this side which occasionally left us exposed on the Ferndale left. In the 18th minute Karl found Albie out right and having got to the bye line pulled the ball back towards the penalty spot. A recovering defender knocked the ball back into the keepers hands and a fortunate indirect free kick was awarded on the edge of the box. Karl duly touched this to Albie who crashed it into the top left had corner. The lads seemed to physically grow after this point and then started to play some lovely flowing football. Two minutes later Fraser and Charlie charged through the middle but the keeper made a great save at their feet. In the 22nd minute a quick switch ball from the left to the right got Albie free, his cross into the box seemed to have evaded everybody by Fraser was there to slam it in. Ferndale tried to get back into the game but the defenders were solid. In the 27th minute again Fraser and Charlie were racing onto a ball. The two of them plus keeper and defender all seemed to arrive at the same time. The ball came loose to Duncan who smacked the ball into a defender but Charlie then hit a cross shot into the net off the far post.
Player of the Day Trophy was awarded to Albie who had the majority of the Parent’s votes cast.
James Davies
Jack Bolton, William Herrington, Bert Cherrill, Olly Sopp
Albie Oakman, Jesse Bowers, Karl Adman, Duncan Lorrain
Charlie de Fraine, Callum Johnson
Subs:- Jordan Shaw, Fraser Roberts, Aiden Weeks
