May & Baker 8 Burnham Ramblers 1
Buildbase FA Vase 1st Qualifying Round
Saturday 1st September
May & Baker made their maiden voyage in the FA Vase on Saturday and their special day was made even more memorable as they went on to tear Burnham Ramblers apart on route to a one-sided 8-1 victory.
There little of note in the first quarter of an hour, and certainly no indicator as what was to come, as neither side were able to get to grips with the game and only a Dan Hall header, which was way too high anyway, being the only chance generated.
All that was to change in the 16th minute when a ball worked its way across Burnham’s box which Dean Hall buried to opening the scoring. The goal lifted the hosts and Reece Tranter had a shot blocked soon afterwards. Burnham finally rallied and Karl Swanborough found himself in space to have a dig which was well saved by Michael Gooch.
Football is a game of margins and a moment after almost equalising Ramblers then found themselves two goals down. Dan Gilchrist caused the damage as he ran onto a pass and then lashed it beyond Laurence Whymark. And the Ramblers keeper was picking the ball out of the net only two minutes later when Gilchrist set up Tranter, who finished the move with some aplomb.
The game was effectively over by the time May & Baker went 4-0 up. That came in the 32nd minute when Gilchrist again acted as provider to Tranter, feeding him a wonderful pass which his strike partner drilled into the net.
More great skill from Gilchrist four minutes later saw him effectively set himself up, as he flicked the ball up and then turned and volleyed it past Whymark to now place May & Baker into a 5-0 lead.
Whymark was able to keep the score down with two very good saves to deny Tranter and Hall; then James Barlow sped past the Ramblers backline and hit a shot that was only an inch the wrong side of the post.
It had been a commanding first half from May & Baker and they continued this in the second half. Gilchrist wasn’t resting on his laurels and only a great diving save from Whymark prevented him claiming his hat-trick early in the second period. Dean Hall also headed a corner wide before lacklustre defending from Jack Davies allowed Barlow to pick up a loose ball, however Davies quickly mopped up his mistake by blocking the following shot. Kiel Chandler played in Gilchrist on the hour but he flashed his effort across goal.
When the next goal came it was actually Burnham Ramblers who scored it. A deep cross into the May & Baker box was headed home by Davies. It was a good goal, no doubting that, but it was to be a mere consolation.
Gilchrist was finally able to complete his hat-trick in the 72nd minute when Barlow centred to him and he slotted home from close range. Barlow had a shot tipped around the post by Whymark before supplying the pass that allowed Gilchrist to rifle home his fourth goal of the afternoon.
The hosts finally wrapped up the scoring in the 82nd minute as a cross was thumped home by Chandler, hitting the post en route to registering May & Baker’s eight goal in an incredible win that no one was expecting. They simply blew Burnham Ramblers away and now face off against Saffron Walden Town in the next round, a mouth-watering Vase tie if ever there was one with both teams containing plenty of fire power.
May & Baker: Michael Gooch, Dean Hall (James Zanelli 63’), James Barlow (Capt), Henry Osei (Daniel Mackin 54’), Elliot Carter, Craig Hall, Conor Okus, Joe Maskell, Reece Tranter (Kiel Chandler 57’), Tom Harvey, Daniel Gilchrist.
Scorers – Dean Hall (16’), Dan Gilchrist (21’, 36’, 72’, 79’), Reece Tranter (23’, 32’).
Burnham Ramblers: Laurence Whymark, Ryan Willsner (James O’Brian 24’), Charlie Gerrada (Tom Howard 20’), Jack Davies, Alex Salmon (Capt), David Etcheri, Karl Swanborough, Jason Jones, Bradley Morgan, Adekunle Adeyemi, Nathan Ruggles (Charlie Gray 69’).
Scorer – Jack Davies (65’).
