We didn’t even get to this stage last season, losing at home to Westfield by a solitary goal
that put us out of the world’s oldest cup competition before the end of August. We also lost
Matty Everitt to long-term injury that day – what a joy it was to see him named on the
bench. He was joined there by Charlie, who made way for Bobby to start at left back.
I interviewed Cam for the matchday programme during the week, and I told him I could feel
his first goal of the season coming. What a way that would have been to cap his one
hundredth appearance for the club! He wasn’t far off in the fourth minute, when he
connected well with Harry’s free kick from the right. However, he couldn’t get enough
height in his leap and the ball went over rather than under the bar.
With nine minutes gone, Tanners took the lead, Dicko scoring his second goal of the season
with a shot from just outside the box. The intention appeared to be to bend it into the left
of the goal, but the ball took a deflection off Ronnie Vint’s back en route, wrongfooting
former Tanner Amadou Tangara. He got both hands to it, but not enough to prevent the ball
from ending up inside his right-hand post.
Croydon took this as their cue to wake up, and having broken forward from the halfway line,
Josh Williams might have been wiser to pass to one of his two runners instead of shooting
weakly past the post with his left foot. On twenty-six minutes, they actually had the ball in
the net courtesy of Ben Wynter, but it was rightly ruled out for offside.
Tanners continued to probe, Harry drawing a good low save from Tangara at one stage, but
losing Kofi to a tight hamstring on thirty-seven minutes. Anas came on to replace him.
Croydon could then have equalised moments later. Jack Paxman clipped a bit of a nothing
ball forward but it got as far as Sonny, who was caught out by a rogue bounce. He clawed it
clear, but only as far as Greg Cundle. Happily, Sonny recovered well and made a great save
with his feet to keep the lead intact.
Halftime – Tanners 1, AFC Croydon Athletic 0.
Two key bits of info were relayed over the Tannoy during the break – 1. I had failed once
again to win a raffle prize, and; 2. The attendance was five hundred and fifty. I was mildly
surprised – that’s on the low side these days, and who doesn’t love a bit of cup action in the
early Autumn sunshine? I suspect many are saving themselves for the trip to Wembley in
May…
Back on the pitch, Dicko looked to add to his personal tally three minutes in. He picked up
the ball on the halfway line and ran unopposed to the edge of the box. He shot well, but it
drifted just past the post. At the other end, Croydon worked a chance well, moving it from
right to left, but the eventual shot sailed wide. Louie then put Anas in on fifty-four minutes,
but the angle was tight and the shot skewed wide.
Tanners didn’t have long to wait for their second though – it arrived two minutes later. Anas
picked up the ball in the right back position and advanced deep into Croydon territory
before squaring it to Dicko. His pass found Harry on the left of the box, and one quick side-
step later, the ball was in the back of the net from his right footed shot. It seemed to go
through the keeper – his reaction suggested that he thought he should have saved it, and
I’m inclined to agree…
Six minutes later, Tanners had the ball in the net for the third time. Marcel’s long throw
took the faintest of touches from Cam’s marker at the near post, and with the keeper
flapping again, it bounced over the line. Lucky for him, neither the lino or the ref registered
his teammate’s touch and the ‘goal’ was chalked off.
Ian shuffled the pack with sixty-five minutes played, bringing on Charlie for Nathan, and
Jacob for Marcel. Meanwhile, Harry continued his, for me, man of the match performance
with a couple more efforts – one, a shot gathered by the keeper at the second attempt after
a short run and stepover; the second, a right-footed volley that dipped just over after an
attempted through ball to Jacob, which turned into an unintended one-two. Instead of
taking the ball in his stride, the ball hit Jacob’s heel, sitting up nicely for the shot.
Braiden got his cameo on eighty-three minutes, and he capped it off with a well-taken goal
in the second minute of injury time. Picking up the ball in the centre circle, he passed
forward to Harry and kept running. Harry fed the ball between the defenders back into
Braiden’s path, and the low right-foot finish was as cool as the proverbial cucumber. Three-
nil and job done – Wembley beckons…
Fulltime – Tanners 3, AFC Croydon Athletic 0.
That the outcome was deserved isn’t in doubt, but three-nil perhaps flatters us just a bit?
For long spells, the visitors had plenty of the ball, but ultimately, they failed to do anything
worthwhile with it. Similarly, for notable periods, they matched our midfield and restricted
the usual lines of supply down the wings, so it was good to see three goals coming from
midfielders in central positions. If you stop our wingers, and/or pack your box, we can look
easy to defend against at times, especially now we’ve taken the step up in leagues.
Safely through to the next round of the Cup, we get back to the serious business of picking
up league points and looking to extend the amazing unbeaten twenty-five-game away run
as we travel to Aveley on Saturday. I’m looking forward to it already – COYT!
