Fenmen end Cooks F.A Cup dream.

Wisbech Town ran out 2-1 winners at Compton Park.

Saturday 11th August 2018

EMIRATES F.A CUP-EXTRA PRELIMINARY ROUND

COGENHOE UNITED (0) 1 v WISBECH TOWN (2) 2
Cooks; Dore 73
Fenmen; Beck 9; Setchell 24.

Attendance; 147

Not too many things are certain in football, but one thing you can rely on is if you are playing Wisbech Town you are in for a tough afternoon and that is exactly how it panned out as The Fenmen earned themselves another visit to the area to face Sileby Rangers in the next round.
A pleasant sunny afternoon but with the traditional stiff Compton Park breeze blowing away from the clubhouse giving The Cooks its advantage after skipper Ryan Dove won the toss. Jake Stone made three changes to the starting line-up with Callum Patching in goal, Dan Smith left-back and Charlie Hynam part of the central midfield trio. He also made use of the seven substitutes rule in the F.A Cup meaning a packed dugout this afternoon.
Ryan Ansell won a took a free-kick he had won himself and aimed for the head of Dove in the box, but Wisbech skipper Jonathan Fairweather read it well and headed clear, something that we would witness regularly this afternoon. Wisbech broke quickly and we saw the game’s first shot as Ryan Harnwell battled hard for the ball just outside the box, but his shot was well over. It looked a nasty foul on Dove just outside the dug-outs and the Cogenhoe bench was very vocal about the ref’s decision not to even speak to the offender, but Liam Tuck drifted the free-kick into the box and although it looked dangerous, nobody attacked it and it bounced harmlessly out for a goal-kick.
The visitors took the lead on 9 minutes and it was poor defending on the edge of our box that will have left Jake Stone less than pleased. The ball was allowed to bounce when it should have been attacked and the prolific Alex Beck nipped in behind to poke it past the out-rushing Patching before firing home from ten yards out.
Montel Dore did well to win the ball and get into the box, but very good defending from Dan Bendon made difficult for him and he couldn’t make use of the situation this time. A deep cross from Aaron Hart looked decent, but Sam Murphy couldn’t get a clear header on it, then a long throw from Beckham Kennelly was flicked on to find Beck, but he blazed his shot over the bar. Danny Setchell delivered a dangerous ball into the Cooks penalty area, but it was eventually cleared after a bit of a scramble.
Cogenhoe looked dangerous as Dove got up to flick on with a brave header and Ansell nodded back across the box towards Dore, but Nick Jackson stretched to get a foot to it at the vital moment. Dore then sent over a cross that drifted on the breeze and Sam Vince stretched up to take it comfortably at the far post. Dore then battled hard to get into a crossing position and played it in to the near stick where Ansell stretched to get there first but could only divert the ball the wrong side of the post.
Wisbech extended their lead with 24 minutes gone and again is was avoidable. A high ball towards the edge of our box held up in the wind, but Patching had already committed himself and punched it away despite having gone out of his area. The referee showed him the yellow card and when all had settles, Danny Setchell stepped up and drove the free-kick past the wall and into the far corner. I say drove and he really connected with it perfectly, giving the keeper no chance at all as it flew just off the ground and inside the post. Slight question mark over the position of the wall though from a Cogenhoe point of view.
Ansell delivered a free-kick from the left touchline that Dan Stevenson got his head to, but under pressure from two red shirted players, he couldn’t direct it on target. Ansell exchanged passes with Dove and chased down the flank. The keeper called and came running out so Fairweather tried to block Ansell’s run, but the tricky Cooks wideman managed to get around his man and steal the ball before checking back and going for goal, but Vince recovered enough to get his fingertips to the shot. Dore latched on to the loose ball beyond the far post and worked an inch or two of space to get the ball back across the box, but the keeper had recovered and was able to dive on the ball.
The Fenmen were forced into a change as Ryan Harnwell was forced off injured and Michael Frew took his place up front. Frew must be fond of this ground though, having bagged a hat-trick on his last game at Compton Park. A good cross from Smith was on route to Séan McBride’s head when Jackson got up to get the top of his head to it at the expense of a corner, but Ansell’s out-swinger was headed clear again by Fairweather and the visitors will have been Pretty happy as they went in for their half-time drink.

Half-time; Cogenhoe United 0 Wisbech Town 2.

No half-time changes, but Wisbech were forced to make one a minute in as Nick Jackson hadn’t recovered from the first half injury that had required treatment and his debut came to an early end with Ollie Gale replacing him. Wisbech had a lot of the attacking play during the early part of the second period and won a number of corners, but without troubling Patching and we soon saw the Cooks first change of the afternoon as Matt Long replaced Charlie Hynam. A turn and driven shot from the edge of the box from Frew saw Patching make a very good save. Dove played a lovely ball into Dore in the centre of the box, but he clipped his shot over the bar from twelve yards out.
Tuck played a free-kick into the box that Dove brought down and swivelled to volley, but it hit and defender, then Tuck volleyed over from nineteen-yards with an opportunist first time effort. We had a backs-to-the wall at the other end in a move that saw both Jackson and Kennelly have shots blocked before Patching claimed the ball in front of his goal.
Long got in a cross that was cut out for a corner. Ansell took it and although Dove got his head on it, it was wide of the target. Down the other end Patching got up to claim a high corner confidently before Cogenhoe made their second swap as Luke Stone replaced the hard-working Tuck in the middle of the park.
With seventeen minutes remaining on the clock, we gave ourselves the lifeline our F.A Cup dreams desperately needed. Matt Long did what we have been doing regularly up until this game as he got past his man and sent over a low cross from the right wing. Ansell couldn’t get to it, but his run drew two defenders and flat-footed the keeper, allowing Montel Dore to come in behind them to fire the ball home from no more than a couple of yards out.
Dan Bendon committed a few fouls in the game and he was getting a stern warning from the referee when Gary Setchell took him off and threw on Layton Maddison for the final fifteen minutes. A good move only resulted in a corner after Ansell’s dangerous looking ball across the box had been cut-out, while Wisbech could have sealed the win as the broke quickly and Beck had only Patching to beat, but he lobbed the ball over the keeper only to see it land on the roof of the net.
Luke Stone went into the book, I assume for something he said, as Cogenhoe made their last change of the afternoon with Curtis Avery replacing Josh Melling at right-back. Adam Millson was very unlucky not to seal the deal for the Fenmen when he rattled the underside of the bar. With time ticking way Avery’s long throw was an added weapon for the Cooks attack and he saw a good one headed out by Fairweather. Smith lifted it back into the box, but Vince got above Long to claim the ball and that was that for this year’s F.A Cup as far as Cogenhoe are concerned.
Good luck to Wisbech Town in their next round game at Sileby Rangers, but for us it’s time to think about our trip to Oadby Town next Saturday. They deserved their win today, but we won’t play many teams as good as the Fenmen and a one-goal defeat shouldn’t worry us or affect our confidence as we look to continue our winning run in the league.
No obvious man-of-the-match today as there is sometimes. On the whole we defended well against a very strong Wisbech attack who had a lot of the ball going forward, but only scored twice and the pick of them for me was George Barnell who takes the accolades today.

Cogenhoe; 1. Callum Patching 2. Josh Melling (sub 12. Curtis Avery 85) 3. Dan Smith 4. Liam Tuck (sub 16. Luke Stone 71) 5. George Barnell 6. Dan Stevenson 7. Séan McBride 8. Charlie Hynam (sub 17. Matt Long 54) 9. Ryan Ansell 10. Ryan Dove © 11. Montel Dore. Subs not used; 13. Stuart Lutter 14. Jamie Inwood 15. Tom Iaciofano 18. Ben Drinkwater.

Wisbech; 1. Sam Vince 2. Aaron Hart 3. Dan Bendon (sub 14. Layton Maddison 75) 4. Jonathan Fairweather © 5. Beckham Kennelly 6. Adam Millson 7. Sam Murphy 8. Danny Setchell 9. Ryan Harnham (sub 12. Michael Frew 43) 10. Alex Beck 11. Nick Jackson (sub 16. Ollie Gale 46). Subs not used; 15. Thembelani Nkala 17. Daniel Swan (gk).

Referee; Daniel O’Sullivan.