Hackney Wick 0 Long Melford 1
Emirates FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Hackney Wick certainly gave it a go in their maiden FA Cup voyage but despite a bombardment of Long Melford’s goal in the second half it was a solitary goal scored by Josh Hodgson that was enough to edge them out.
Hodgson had shown his attacking intent very early on when he burst into the box and fired off a shot that Martin Arnauchkov tipped away for a corner. Anthony Waugh also test the Wick keeper as the Thurlow Nunn side looked to try and get an early foothold.
The Wickers almost took the lead when Jeffrey Idemuda just failed to get on the end of Tobi Adesina’s weighted pass but then found themselves trailing after 15 minutes when Hodgson’s glancing header somehow wormed its way past Arnauchkov and into the net.
Wick however went on the attack with Idemudia using strength and speed to tear up the Long Melford defence, cracking off a shot that whizzed past the far post. Chuks Onwugbonu was also looking lively but Moyes had only one real save to make, from an Adegoke Adetunji free kick.
Arnauchkov ended the half having to tip away two Hodgson headers to ensure Wick only went in a goal behind at the break.
Junior Decker tested Moyes in the opening seconds of the second half and it set the stall for the remainder of the half. The Wick continued to press and Moyes had to pull off a superb save to deny Onwugbona and then Saico Djop showed some flashy touches to get the ball under his control and then hit a powerful shot that was only inches too high. And it looked like Wick had an equaliser when Ibrahim Camara played in a diagonal pass into the box that Djop latched onto; outpacing the Long Melford defence, but his shot was only just off target.
As the half wore on, and with the ball almost permanently camped in the Long Melford half, meant it looked only a matter of time before the deserved equaliser came. Sadly for the hosts it never did arrive as Adetunji and Kareem Richardson both saw well placed shots superbly saved by Moyes and then when Idemudia was able to beat the Long Melford keeper his shot was hooked off the line by Steve Adams. In the end the Thurlow Nunn Premier outfit were able to hold on and eke out the slenderest of victories in front of 267 people.
Hackney Wick: Martin Arnauchkov, Magnus Orelaja, Herve Mwamba, Adegoke Adetunji, Simpson Mpalampa, Ibrahim Camara, Junior Decker, Blessing Adomah (Kareem Richardson 60’), Tobi Adesina (Saico Djop 45’), Chuks Onwugbonu (Benjamin Oni 83’), Jeffrey Idemudia.
Long Melford: Darren Moyes, Sam Bayliss (Callum Hemson 66’), Josh Collins, Jake Johnson (Thomas Le Page 60’), Steve Adams, Anthony Waugh, Hassan Ally, Dan Swain, Josh Hodgson, Scott Sloots (Will Wingfield 80’), Michael Schofield.
Scorer – Josh Hodgson (15’)