Wingrave 2 - 7 Long Crendon

By Alex Farley

Long Crendon through to the Sheffield Jackman semi-finals.

Long Crendon travelled away to Wingrave this Saturday looking to progress into the semi-finals, with a potential clash against Oving.

Troubled by injuries, captain Matt Wakelin was unavailable, as was Dino Bonwick, out with a back injury. This saw Liam Gabard fill in at right back, and meant that the injured Scott Hardy was forced to play. Scott was joined by Nathan at the back, with Zak Wiggins at left back. The midfield 4 had Eliot Farley and Chris Scott on the wings, and Tom Sykes was paired in midfield with captain for the day Alex Farley. Up front saw Archie Pettingell start with an ill Ryan Scott.

It was Wingrave who started the brightest, with Long Crendon unable to string two passes together, they found themselves pinned into their own half. Unable to clear the ball, Wingrave had the first chance of the game within the first few minutes, with Joe Fograscher bravely coming off his line and saving inadvertently with his face. The home side's pressure did pay off however, and when Scott Hardy was robbed of the ball, the young Wingrave winger cut inside and superbly fired low into the far corner, with Joe Fograscher at full stretch.

Wingrave's lead was to last no more than two minutes however, when Ryan Scott picked up a ball from Archie Pettingell just inside the home team's half. Moving forward, with seemingly nothing on, he shifted the ball out of his feet and from range rocketed the ball past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

Tom Sykes then had the chance to give us the lead, after good work from Archie Pettingell, he squared the ball to Tom, who moved past one defender and shot low into the corner. This time the goalkeeper was equal to it, and pushed the ball past the post. Keeping up the pressure, Long Crendon seemed to have finally turned up. Chris Scott took the ball down on the wing and squared to his brother. Again, with nothing on Ryan Scott cut inside, and after beating two players and keeping Alex Farley from taking it off him, he again tried his luck from distance. Obviously not content with his first effort, his powerful strike dipped over the keeper and flew into the back of the net, with the keeper standing no chance.

Our next goal again soon followed and we found ourselves in a comfortable lead. Tom Sykes played a through ball over the top to Eliot Farley, and with the goalkeeper storming off his line, he was first to the ball and unselfishly squared it to the supporting Archie Pettingell, who tapped in from 10 yards into an empty net to open his account for the day.

After a poor start to the half, Long Crendon were now completely dominating and it was Ryan Scott who again found himself on the scoresheet, completing his first half hat-trick with 3 top quality strikes. Chris Scott was again the provider, and his through ball found Ryan Scott racing past the Wingrave back line. This time Ryan decided to seal his hat trick with a cool placed finish over the stranded keeper who could do nothing but watch as the ball sailed into the net.

Tom Sykes should also have been awarded a penalty, when he had his feet swiped from underneath him as he tried to get a shot away, but the referee somehow saw nothing wrong and waved play on.

After a poor start we went into half time with a comfortable 4-1 lead, and as the second half started, it was our turn to start strongly.
Within ten minutes, Archie Pettingell had added his second. Alex Farley playing a ball through, which took a deflection and fell to into Archie's path. Making no mistake, he finished into the bottom left corner to get his second of the day. He then completed his hat trick, with Chris Scott again being the assister. His ball was picked up by Archie Pettingell, and he finished with aplomb over the keeper from a tight angle with his weaker foot.

Ryan Scott then departed for Ben Thomas, who's tenacity was rewarded with a goal himself. Eliot Farley found space in the box, and after rounding two defenders his deflected cross looped into the path of Ben Thomas, who volleyed home to open his account for the first team this season.

With the game coming to an end, wingrave again found themselves on the scoresheet. Nathan Brownsword was harshly adjudged to have handled the ball in the area, and the Wingrave striker made no mistake from the spot.