Post by Dave on Jan 21, 2023 8:49:47 GMT
The Isuzu FA Vase Forth Round
Match Referee Mr Mark King (Saltash)
Assistants Mr Ryan Cornelius (Plymouth) & Mr Andrew Heapy (Exmouth)
Forth Official Mr Neil Hunnisett
Assistants Mr Ryan Cornelius (Plymouth) & Mr Andrew Heapy (Exmouth)
Forth Official Mr Neil Hunnisett
Final Score Brixham 2 AFC Raynes Park Vale 0
Attendance 295
Match Preview
So here we are at the second time of asking after last weeks tie was called off due to a waterlogged pitch at Wall Park. At least now both clubs now know who they will meet in the next round if they win this game. It will be away to the winners of Corsham Town or Deal Town forth round tie.
A total of 586 clubs entered this seasons FA Vase Cup, with a dream of reaching the final which will be played at Wembley. For 554 of those clubs the dream is over and that fact just highlights the wonderful achievement Brixham AFC have made reaching the forth round of this cup for the first time in their history. The only other Devon club still in the completion is Buckland Athletic who is also in FA Vase action today.
Brixham AFC is such a well run family club that keeps its feet on the ground, while the players do their talking out on the pitch. The football played is always to a high standard and entertainment is always guaranteed at Wall Park.
To reach the forth round Brixham beat Odd Down at home on the 22nd October by four goals to nil. On the 12th of November they faced Andover New Street FC at home in the second round and won the game by two goals to one.
In the third round they were drawn away to Shaftesbury FC on the 3rd of December. The game finished at one all at full time, but Brixham won 5-4 on penalties. A great result that set up today’s tie against Raynes Park Vale who play in the Combined Counties Premier League South.
What Do We Know About Raynes Park Vale FC
The current club was formed in 1995 when Raynes Park FC merged with Maldon Vale. Raynes Park FC originally was the Southern Railways Football Section (formed 1928) and were known as Southern Railway until they changed name to Raynes Park FC in 1964. Malden Vale FC was founded in 1967; the new merged club immediately joined the Combined Counties Football League.
The club plays their home games at Prince George's Playing Fields, Grand Drive.SW London
Raynes Park Vale had a bye for the first round due to having reached the forth round last season. In the second round they played Colliers Wood United FC away on the 12th November and won the game by one goal to nil. In the 3rd round they were away again, this time against Larkfield & New Hythe FC and won the game by two goals to one.
Raynes Park Vale is enjoying a very good season in the Combined Counties Premier South (one step above Brixham) and sits in 2nd place in their league; they have played 18 league games, winning 14, drawing two and losing two. Their two defeats were both at home and they have yet to lose an away fixture. Their Surrey Cup Tie on Tuesday evening 10th January against Kingstonian FC was called off due to a waterlogged pitch. The club were looking for a friendly match for Tutsday 17th January in the build up to this match, but I do not think they were able to arrange one. So the players should all be fresh for this game, They are unbeaten in their last 10 games, winning nine of them.
Brixham also come into the game in fine form and have also only been beaten twice in the league this season. Their last game was at home on the 7th January beating Plymouth Marjon by six goals to nil. The team has plenty of goals in it and it should be a cracking match. It looks like Raynes Park Vale is travelling down from London on the morning of the match. Will this have any impact on their performance? We will have to wait and see.
£1.875 for the winners, losers pick up £600.
Matchday is sponsored by Blueview Renovations & the Match Ball is sponsored by Corner 2 Corner Window Cleaning.
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The Journey To Walls Park
Match Report.
What a game and what a fantastic deserved win for Brixham AFC. With a we will not be beaten attitude, Brixham were outstanding all over the pitch. The players worked hard for each other, fought for every single ball and did all the right things. You could see that Vale are a good side, their passing and movement at times was first class, but they lacked any real goal threat today, as has been the case in many of their recent games.
The Wall Park pitch always drains well and it look perfect today; credit to the ground staff and the club for getting this game on and the bumper crowd were treated to a very entertaining game of football.
The match referee got the game underway and it was all even stevens as both teams sussed each other out. Vale was relying on the long ball far too much with little or no effect. Most balls ending up going far too long or well dealt with by a very strong Brixham defence.
Vales Ethon Archer was the first player to have his name taken after a high foul on Danny Gaze and the first player to have a meaningful effort on goal. From the edge of the Brixham box he hit a good powerful shot that went wide of the left hand post.
Brixham’s Reece Somers soon found his name going into the referee’s notebook when he looked to have clearly won the ball. At this stage I still felt that Vale was the most likely of the two sides to open up the scoring. A good ball was fired into the Brixham box from the left hand side. Timmy Obisanya rose well, but his backward glancing header had no pace on it and Grant Fisher was able to catch the ball with ease. It was the only real save he had to make for the entire match.
Vale then had a golden opportunity to score, a low box into the Brixham box from the left hand side. Lovie Donney was standing close to the penalty spot and looked certain to blast the ball into the back of the net. But somehow he missed the ball completely.
He had another half chance shortly afterwards, another good high ball into the Brixham box that he failed to get a good head on the ball.
Brixham at this stage were not able to create any real meaningful chances, but were winning plenty of tackles and keeping Vale at bay. In football you have to try and take the chances when they do come along and that is what Brixham did.
On what seemed like a rare attack on the forty first minute of the game a shot was fired at the Vale goal. The ball was blocked and came back to Reece Somers who hit a first time low shot into the bottom left hand corner of the goal.
A perfect time to score but Vale went straight back on the attack and the Brixham defence were forced into making a number of excellent blocks on the edge of their own goal area.
The ref blew up for halftime and for all their hard work and effort; Brixham deserved their half time lead against a team who play at a higher level, but could they hold onto it in the second half.
The second half got underway and Vale started brightly, they were enjoying a great deal of the ball, but once again never really looked like getting past a very determined Brixham defence. Brixham had their backs to the wall, but never looked likely to crumble.
Vales Dan Moody hit a shot from the edge of the Brixham box, but his effort flew high over the crossbar. Ethon Archer also hit a shot from the edge of the box that went wide of the right hand post. There was then a very big shout for a Vale penalty, but the referee was well placed and waved play on.
Almost against the run of play Brixham doubled their lead on the seventy forth minute. They won a corner and the ball was fired high to the back post. My pictures seem to show a good head was got on the ball and the keeper pushed it down towards the middle of the goal mouth where Sean Adderley was waiting to fire it over the goal line.
Brixham were now well on top and went in search of further goals. Charlie Johnnsen found anther gear and went on a good run down the left hand side of the pitch. He hit a powerful shot from the edge of the box that only just went wide of the left hand post.
After a great passing move Scott Robinson was played into the right hand side of the Vale box and got a shot away that the keeper did well to block and out for a Brixham corner. Graham Merccia did well to hold onto the ball out on the right and made a very powerful run into the Vale box. He shot across the keeper who did well to dive down and push the ball away with one hand.
The referee blew up for fulltime and history has been made again at Wall Park. It will be a very long drive home for the Vale players who made such a game of it but lacked the fire power on the day.
Brixham can go into their next Vase game with no fear, this team is good enough to beat anyone on their day and you never know, they could go all the way to Wembley. Book me on the coach now please.
