London Colney and Cooks share 8 goals in Vase cracker.

The two sides must try again at Compton Park on Tuesday night following an very entertaining 4-4 draw at Cotlandswick.

Saturday 21st October 2017
BUILDBASE F.A VASE-FIRST ROUND
LONDON COLNEY (1) 4 v COGENHOE UNITED (1) 4 (aet)
Colney: Hammond 32, 53 Vaughan 91 Ferreira 106
Cooke; Dove 36, 99 Long 46 Dore 92

As storm Brian hit the UK, it was clear this would be a difficult game for the players as the wind whirled, whipped and swirled around Cotlandswick. Tom Chapman returned to the dug-out to take charge of affairs today and was forced into just one change from the side that played so well at Rothwell in the week, that being Jake Cayton coming into central midfield to replace the unavailable Michael Parkes. Luis Vieira returned from injury but had to settle for a place on the bench today, J’nai Butterfield-Steede joining him alongside Curtis Avery, Ali Duncan and Montel Dore.

We kicked off in sunshine and it was the Cooks who had the bulk of the blustery wind behind their backs. A Cayton throw was flicked on by Ryan Dove to win an early corner. Ansell swung it in to the far post and although Cayton tried to hit it on the volley, he couldn’t get his foot round it enough to get it on target. Ryan Ansell knocked the ball down the line and although Colney skipper Bobby Armstrong was able to get across, Matt Long put enough pressure on him to win the corner, but this time Tuck’s delivery failed to pick out an orange shirt. Laurence Vaughan crossed into the Cooks box and Paulo Montella got his head to it, but he didn’t get over or behind it and the ball went well wide of the far post. Great play from Dove on the right saw him win back possession, beat a defender and make progress down the flank before crossing with the outside of his right boot. He found Ansell’s run on the far side of the box, but the wide-man’s first-time volley went the wrong side of the post.
Manny Hammond looked pretty dangerous for the home side and Josh Melling did well to stop his run at the expense of a corner. The set-piece was a dangerous one that Cogenhoe struggled to deal with, but they were able to breathe a sigh of relief as Armstrong could only put his shot over the bar from close range. Dove flicked on a Lutter kick that Ansell ran on to, but this time Zach Holding defended the situation well. Ansell lobbed the ball forward for Long, but it was a bit too hard, although Long didn’t give up and as the keeper tried to see the ball over the line, Long got a foot in to try and play the ball into the area, but he could only put it behind.
Josh Melling got up well to head away a Wilson Ferreira cross, then just nine minutes into the game Ansell became the first player to go into the book. The first of many as it turns out. Melling delivered a free-kick from inside his own half into the Colney penalty area and although Ansell took it down, it rolled away from him enough to allow Jack Medcalf to gather the ball safely. With the ball swirling around, the Colney defence were at sixes and sevens as they tried to clear inside their own box and perhaps Long should have taken advantage as he pounced, but the keeper was on him very quickly and he managed to block the striker’s shot from seven yards out. Ansell laid the ball out wide to Dan Smith, who played a neat one-two with Dove before playing the ball low into the box, but it was cut-out by Holding.
A dangerous Ansell corner caused panic in the box and it was almost headed into his own goal by a London Colney defender. Melling was again the man on the spot as he did well to stop Ferreira and still had the composure to head the loose ball up to Séan McBride. A great piece of control followed by a quick turn saw Hammond get away from Dan Stevenson just inside the Cooks half, before playing it into the run of Vaughan. He rolled it inside to Ferreira, but his shot was blocked. A quick break through the middle saw Ferreira strike a low shot from the edge of the box, but Stuart Lutter got right behind it.
On 32 minutes the home side broke the deadlock with a fantastic strike. Manny Hammond came inside and made himself a bit of space before lashing an unstoppable drive into the far top corner from just outside the box. From where I stood you could see it was in from the moment it left his boot.
A Liam Tuck cross was well taken by Medcalf, while back down the other end Ferreira set up Hammond, but his shot was well saved by Lutter. On 36 minutes Cogenhoe had themselves back on level terms with Ryan Dove on target again. Tuck played the ball to Smith on the wing and he sent over a great cross that found Dove just beyond the far post and although the angle wasn’t brilliant, he struck his shot really well and beat the keeper on his near post.
Cogenhoe went within a whisker of grabbing the lead almost immediately as a fantastic volley from Tuck smacked against the post with the keeper well beaten, then McBride headed over a Smith cross as we took the game to our hosts. Ansell very nearly put Cayton clear, but Armstrong stretched to make a vital cut-out and the sides went into the break level at one-apiece.

Half-time; London Colney 1 Cogenhoe United 1.

Cogenhoe were very quickly out of the blocks and took the lead for the first time within sixty-seconds of the restart. Medcalf actually made a really good save with his outstretched foot from Tuck’s effort, but Matt Long had gambled and was able to sweep the ball into the far corner for a deserved goal.
Ansell made a great run, covering a good fifty yards before finding Long to his left. He played the ball into the box, the keeper got a touch to send it wide, but Cayton got to the ball first and smacked his shot against the post and then Ansell fired in what looked like being our third goal, but Armstrong made a brilliant goal line clearance.
London Colney drew themselves level on 53 minutes and it was a sloppy goal to concede if truth be told. The ball was spinning and bobbling around our box and we just couldn’t get it away and almost inevitably Manny Hammond was finally able to put the ball over the line form a yard out.
Dove did brilliantly to control the ball and beat his man out wide before getting the ball across the box and on reflection Cayton should have taken a touch, but with ball swirling in the wind he sliced it so badly it caught the wind and ended up heading away from the goal. A great run from Vaughan opened us up a bit and he found Montella in acres of space to get into the box. He tried to slip the ball low across the area, but Munya Matiyenga cut it out and Lutter dived on it. Matiyenga found Tuck out wide and he played it into the danger area, but a defender stretched to put the ball over his own bar. On 61 minutes Tuck went into the book and I have to sympathise with him. He clearly won a corner but the referee awarded a goal-kick and the Cooks man said to much in his frustration. Tuck then did brilliantly to keep in a rather poor pass in and play it down the line for Long, but his cross was won by a blue head.
A typical full bloodied challenge from McBride saw him go into the book and it sparked an angry reaction from the home side. To be fair I don’t think Séan had meant it the way it came out as he slipped and raised his studs into the tackle and when things had calmed down he had been joined in the book by both Matiyenga and Colney’s Olu Quadri. Quadri wasn’t having the best of spells and his attempted volley from a corner went both high and wide of the goal.
Tom Chapman made his first change with twenty minutes left as he brought on Luis Vieira for Cayton, with the sub going wide left and Tuck tucking inside. Hammond played Ferreira through but Lutter read the situation well and came out to save his shot, with the ball then bouncing off Hammond and out for a goal-kick. Ansell fed Vieira, but his shot bobbled across the face of the goal and a few yards ahead of Long. We then saw both sides make a change with Long being replaced by Montel Dore and Colney bringing on Anton Johnson for Montella.
Joe Price added to the list of players to be shown the yellow card after he caught McBride late and he was joined a few minutes later by Holding for a spot of dissent after Dove had been upended on the edge of the box after good work from Vieira and Dore. Dove took the kick himself, going over the wall, but he didn’t get it to dip quick enough and it went just over the bar. Quadri tried his luck from twenty yards, but it was always going wide, then Stevenson slipped on the half way line and allowed Ferreira to break, but Melling was on hand to cover for his teammate. Tuck played a nice ball up to Dove on the edge of the box, but neither he or Ansell could get in a shot with the ball just not falling kindly for the Cooks. Ferreira joined the growing list of players on a caution for a foul on Dore and Tuck played the free-kick into the box where Stevenson headed it sideways and this proved to be the last action of the ninety and it was extra-time for the second time in the Vase for the Cooks.

90 minute score; London Colney 2 Cogenhoe United 2.

Just as Cogenhoe had done in the second half, London Colney netted within seconds of the restart. Quadri did well on the right and played in a low ball that went all the way to the far post to find a completely unmarked Laurence Vaughan, who had the simple task of steering the ball home from close range to give the home side the lead for the second time this afternoon. Cogenhoe were level again a minute later though as Dove hit an absolute screamer that crashed against the underside of the bar and out, but Montel Dore was on hand to fire the ball home from close range to keep up his impressive scoring record since joining the club recently.
On 99 minutes it was Cogenhoe who took the lead again as Ansell played a delicate ball over the defender’s head and Dove took it down well before steering his shot past the keeper and into the far corner for his second of the game. A great challenge from Jack Mace stopped Vieira getting into the box after good work from Dore and this proved to the last action before the final end change.
For the third time in the match, he had a goal with a minute of the restart and it was Colney again, although it was perhaps a touch fortunate. Wilson Ferreira’s corner, a good delivery, caught the wind and went straight in off the far post. Easy to criticise from the stand, but had we had a defender covering the far post they wouldn’t have scored.
Ansell whipped in a ball that Dore got a touch to just outside the six-yard box, but it fell nicely for the keeper. With seven minutes remaining it became that bit tougher for Cogenhoe as Ansell committed a foul that the referee judged it a caution and adding that to his early one, he saw red and headed back to the dressing rooms.
Vieira was very unlucky to get a yellow card as Quadri seemed to fall over, but more importantly London Colney couldn’t make their man advantage count and Cogenhoe get another chance with eleven when the they replay at Compton Park on Tuesday night.

What a game. The lead changing hands four times. Entertainment from start to finish with the draw perhaps the fair result as neither team deserved to lose. Both teams deserve credit for putting on a game such as this in awful conditions. Had we had snow we could have claimed four seasons in one day with bright sunshine and horizontal rain adding to the players burdens. Like the Corinthians game, we had a strong squad and looked dangerous as our four goals indicate. Three of their goals were a bit sloppy to concede, but the other was a real cracker. Two well taken goals from Dove and two poachers instincts from Long and Dore. It’s a real pleasure to watch Cogenhoe when we have all our first choices available and everyone gave 100% out there today. Liam Tuck and Ryan Dove both had to play 120 minutes despite not being fully fit yet and you could see the pain as they got through the final stages and that shows what this club means to them. Josh Melling had another very good game and went close to getting my man-of-the-match despite being in a defence that shipped four, as did Liam Tuck, but it has to go to two-goal hero Ryan Dove who was an inch away from a hat-trick with his shot that hit the underside of the bar before being netted by Dore.

The replay is on Tuesday night at Compton Park and this will replace the scheduled reserve game that night, kicking-off at 7-45 pm. I don’t suppose it will live up to today’s game, but would why you want to take the risk of missing out?

London Colney; 1. Jack Medcalf 2. Jack Mace 3. Alex Gyasi (sub 15. Dan Heard 105) 4. Joe Price 5. Bobby Armstrong © 6. Zach Holding 7. Paulo Montella (sub 12. Anton Johnson 78) 8. Olu Quadri 9. Wilson Ferreira 10. Manny Hammond 11. Laurence Vaughan. Subs not used; 14. Finley Long 16. Daniel Westmore 17. Joe Simmonds.

Cogenhoe Utd; 1. Stuart Lutter 2. Munya Matiyenga 3. Dan Smith 4. Josh Melling 5. Dan Stevenson 6. Séan McBride 7. Ryan Ansell (Sent-off 113) 8. Jake Cayton (sub 16. Luis Vieira 71) 9. Matt Long (sub 15. Montel Dore 78) 10. Ryan Dove © 11. Liam Tuck. Subs not used; 12. J’nai Butterfield-Steede 14. Ali Duncan 17. Curtis Avery.

Referee; Aaron Fricker.