Barkingside 0 Stowmarket Town 4
FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Barkingside crashed out of the FA Cup on a sunny afternoon to a well-drilled and organised Stowmarket Town who dominated large parts of the game and thoroughly deserved their victory.
Michael Ogboin provided Barkingside with the first chance of the game, when with barely two minutes on the clock he was played in but lashed his effort over the bar. Stowmarket, who had won the Thurlow Nunn First Division last season showed what they were capable of with some attacking play that ended with Jack Baker stinging Will Hunt’s hands with a shot from outside the box and then Phil Weavers got his head on a Stowmarket corner that the Side stopper had to cut out. Paul Shave and Michael Bottone had to put their bodies on the line to block a number of balls that ended up in the Side area.
Dan Cunningham floated a wonderful free kick midway through the half that Hunt kept out with a full-stretch save to tip away. Then Cunningham beat his marker, raced to the by-line and centred for Andrew Wood whose shot was saved at point-blank range by Hunt. The young Side keeper also had to pull off further heroics to parry a Weaver header. Side were under the cosh at this point and apart from an Ogboin foray into the Stowmarket box, which ended in the ball being cleared before the Side talisman could fire off a shot, the action was all in the Side half.
Hunt had to cut out a few more crosses but was finally beaten in the 39th minute when Ethan Clarke sped past Bottone, centred to Wood who slotted the ball past Hunt. The visitors didn’t rest on their laurels either and when Clarke sent over another deep cross from the left it needed a block from Euan Taylor-Reid to knock away. Side did end the half on the attack with Joe Newbold knocking the ball out to the right wing where Aundre Spencer delivered a searching cross to the back post that needed Weavers to head away. It was a nice move from the hosts but they simply had not done enough in the first half to test the Stowmarket defence and saw out the half having to stand up against a succession of free kicks and corners.
The visitors started the second half on the attack and Wood reeled off a header in the opening seconds that Hunt smothered. Side then mounted a rare attack when Ogboin won the ball and passed it to Jerome Martelli whose shot was knocked away for a corner. Craig Brand punched the corner away and that ended the Stowmarket keeper’s involvement in the game as he had little to do for the remainder of the half.
Stowmarket should have gone two up in the 52nd minute when Wood pounced on a defensive error but couldn’t keep his shot down. Then another Ethan Clarke cross whistled towards the back post towards his brother Anton, but he couldn’t get his header on target.
On the hour Stowmarket finally doubled their lead when a ball made its way towards George Bugg at the near post and he made no mistake from close range. Stowmarket were not going to let the chance of a home tie with Romford, not to mention the £1500 prize money, slip from their grasp and they almost extended their lead in the 79th minute when Billy Clarke pounced on a loose ball in the six yard box but somehow Side managed to keep it out.
Further Stowmarket polish was added in the 85th minute Ethan Clarke fired into the bottom right hand corner of the net and then two minutes later was upended by Shave; Wood slammed the penalty home to complete a comprehensive 4-0 victory to the Suffolk side.
Barkingside: Will Hunt, Michael Bottone, Mike Sherwood, Euan Taylor-Reid, Paul Shaves, Jamie Pooley (Reece Hewitt 54’), Aundre Spencer, Bradley Joseph, Michael Ogboin (Jason Fontaine 75’), Jerome Martelli (Matteus Santos 55’), Joe Newbold.
Stowmarket Town: Craig Brand, Ollie Brown, Anton Clarke, Ethan Clarke, Phil Weavers, Jemel Fox, Dan Cunningham, Jack Baker (Angelo Harrop 65’) , Andrew Wood, George Bugg (Ryan Yallop 82’), Remi Garrett (Billy Clarke 75’).
Scorers – Andrew Wood (39’, 87’), George Bugg (60’) Ethan Clarke (85’).
