Westbury bounced back from their defeat away to Bitton in the FA Cup to secure a win and advance to the first round of the FA Vase for the first time in six seasons.
It was another coach trip to Hampshire for the second qualifying round of the FA Vase, away to Wessex League Division One outfit Petersfield Town FC.
Westbury nearly got off to a flying start through a Steve Hulbert volley after only two minutes, but it was well saved by Tim Jackson in the Petersfield goal. Ed Baldy made a full-length diving save to his left on the 15-minute mark to keep the score at 0-0, a cross had come in and Petersfield’s Ollie Kershaw had powered a volley on target but Baldy was equal to it.
Petersfield had a real foothold in the game, their two supporters behind the home goal with 6 flags draped over the pitch perimeter fence were singing their hearts out, which seemed to encourage their players to perform more than their hot head manager.
After 29 minutes Westbury had their best spell of the match, with a brace of corners which resulted in a couple of half chances. Bang on the half an hour mark, Jordan Pinder surged into the right hand side of the Petersfield penalty area, he dribbled his way to the goal line and cut the ball back across the face of goal,
Callum Demkiv was arriving with a few defenders closely marshalling his movement, his dummy took them all and the keeper out of the game and left an unmarked Joe Stradling to finish in the centre of the goal to make it 1-0 to Westbury against the run of play.
Petersfield levelled through Harry Giles just before half time. Westbury keeper Ed Baldy got a knock to his left knee when trying to save; he stayed on for the remainder of the first half but was obviously struggling. The teams went in level at halftime, with Petersfield probably the better team.
With the injury to Baldy and no substitute goalkeeper available, Dan Jordan appeared for the second half with the goalkeeper kit on. Ferris Lamrabet came on to take up the left back position and Ian Jefferey moved into the centre back slot alongside Steve Hulbert, vacated by Dan Jordan.
After a poor first half this could have turned into a long afternoon for the White Horse Men but what ever was said at half time obviously worked, as Westbury flew out of the changing rooms. Ricky Hulbert and Callum Demkiv were tireless upfront chasing and pressing the defenders. Demkiv got his reward after five minutes, a head home by a Petersfield defender wasn’t strong enough, Demkiv pounced and found himself one-on-one with their keeper, and a cool finish made it 2-1 to Westbury.
Ten minutes later Joe Stradling crossed from the right-hand side. Demkiv’s smart movement meant he was unmarked between the two Petersfield central defenders, he cushioned a header into the net from about five yards out. Six minutes later Westbury nearly had a fourth goal, when a corner from the left found its way to Josh Ferguson who was just inside the penalty area, 3 or four yards from the goal line. The angle was tight, but Ferguson powered a shot low into the centre of the goal. Unfortunately, Stradling couldn’t get out of the way and the ball deflected off his foot and out to safety.
Petersfield huffed and puffed to try and get back in the game, but Dan Jordan was a natural between the posts. He commanded his area when crosses came in, his distribution was excellent and even though Petersfield had a few chances, Dan Jordan was more than a match for them.
The result kept the White Horsemen in the hat for the draw of the First Round proper, which was drawn at 1pm on Monday 17th September where the confident Westbury side drew Saltash United, playing away on Saturday 13th October.
Team: Ed Baldy, Ryan Baggs, Ian Jefferey, Jordan Pinder, Dan Jordan, Steve Hulbert ©, Jamie Jordan, Josh Ferguson, Ricky Hulbert, Callum Demkiv, Joe Stradling. Subs: Ferris Lamrabet, Francois Allen, Morgan Skipp (used) Joe Kirkpatrick (unused).. MOTM: Dan Jordan.
