Sat 7th August – FA Cup Preliminary Round Westbury United 4 Christchurch FC 2
WESTBURY needed to win to advance past the Extra Preliminary Round of The FA Cup for the first time since 2018, when they beat Cribbs 3-0.
A heavy shower before kick-off gave the pitch some zip and gusty winds threatened to make things difficult, but with two good footballing teams on show the ball was kept on the ground for long periods so the wind didn’t affect the quality of the game.
Francois Allen had an early sighter with an instinctive volley on target that was saved by the Dulai in the Christchurch goal. Christchurch took the lead on 17 minutes, a free kick from wide left was delivered with pace across the edge of the 6-yard box, Steer was on hand to flick it on with his head into the net.
Just 9 minutes later Westbury were back level, great work by Hutchings down the right, he cut inside about 10 yards from the touchline and delivered a left footed cross. Demkiv couldn’t quite get his head to it but Allen arrived behind him to power his header home.
Westbury were well on top and any work that was required by Bowden in the Westbury goal was solid. Sammy Jordan clashed with a Christchurch player just before half-time as they both slid in for the ball; the Christchurch player was due to arrive a little later so pulled out only to knee Jordan in the gluteus maximus and leave in agony. After treatment by Westbury physio Will Bundy, Jordan tried to continue but as soon as he tried to jump for a header the pain was too much for him to continue so he was replaced by Joint-Player-Manager Ricky Hulbert.
Seconds before halftime Jack Biddiscombe took matters into his own hands and set off on a mazy run that started in his own half. As he zigzagged forward he eventually found himself in the penalty area; his cool calm finish was just a pass into the box to make it 2-1 to Westbury at halftime.
Less than four minutes into the second half and Allen was brought down in the Christchurch penalty area and the referee awarded a penalty. Demkiv stepped up and smashed the ball low to the keeper’s left, even though Dulai dived the correct direction, the accuracy of Demkiv’s finish meant he had no chance and Westbury increased their lead to 3-1.
There were further chances for Demkiv and Allen, Will Thomson was patrolling midfield and putting a stop to any threat from Christchurch; his midfield partner Ben Griffiths had a long range shot which forced another good save after he had skipped past a strong sliding challenge.
Josh Ferguson replaced Allen just before the 70 minute mark and he was involved straight away with a powerful header from a Biddiscombe cross.
Christchurch reduced the deficit on 75 minutes, Batista received the ball with his back to goal about 20 yards out, his smart turn created enough room for him to fire a shot into the net and make it 3-2.
Only three minutes later Demkiv restored Westbury’s two goal cushion with a magical run on the left hand side of the penalty area, he dribbled past the defender and then cut back inside, the easy option seemed to be a cutback to a teammate but Demkiv had different ideas and finished at the near post to make it 4-2.
Christchurch finished the game strongly but didn’t really create any good chances. Late in the game birthday boy Josh Timbrell replaced Joe Stradling in the Westbury midfield. The final score of 4-2 was well deserved by the home team and sees them through to the next round which will be at home against strong Wessex Premier League team Hamworthy United on Saturday 21st August, 3pm kick-off.
Starting Line-up- 1. M.Bowden, 2. J.Hutchings, 20. J.Biddiscombe, 4. S.Gregory, 5. D .Price(C), 6. J.Stradling, 7. B.Griffiths, 8. W.Thomson, 9. S.Jordan, 10. C.Demkiv, 11. F.Allen. Subs-R.Hulbert, J.Ferguson, J.Timbrell (used) S.Hulbert, L.Porter (unused).Westbury Star Man-Francois Allen
