Wealdstone 4 – 1 Chesham United
Wealdstone2QRR
4 - 1
Chesham UnitedWealdstone booked their place in the FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round with a comprehensive victory over Chesham United. Following on from the heartbreak of Chesham’s late equaliser on Saturday, Stones made no mistake at the second time of asking, putting in a great attacking performance to set up an away tie at unbeaten Metropolitan Police in two weeks time.
Stones will be hoping this result will kick start their season after some disappointing results recently. They looked a much improved side from recent weeks, and it was a good all round team performance, with a high tempo and great work rate throughout the 90 minutes.
There were a number of changes from the weekend’s game, with Scott Fitzgerald replacing Greg Ngoyi, and Kieron Forbes dropping to right back to replace the injured Dean Smith. There was also a place in the starting XI for Sean Cronin, with the central defender taking up the unfamiliar role of centre forward, hoping to provide a physical presence up front.
Wealdstone got off to a nervous start, and were pushed back into their own half early on with the away side having a couple of efforts from distance in the first few minutes, the best of these being a well struck free kick from Danny Talbot which flew just wide.
As the game went on Wealdstone began to grow in confidence, and took the lead with an excellent goal on 21 minutes. Kieron Forbes picked up the ball deep in his own half, and went on a surging 75 yard run down the right flank, beating 4 players, before pulling the ball back to Scott Fitzgerald who side footed past Shane Gore in the Chesham goal.
The goal appeared to settle Stones, and they began to take control of the game in midfield. The second goal came three minutes from half time, when Lee Chappell’s long throw was flicked on by Scott Fitzgerald, and Peter Dean superbly flicked the ball into the top corner with the outside of his right foot.
Following on from the two red cards in Saturday’s game, things were at times becoming over physical, and Chris O’Leary was perhaps lucky to escape a red card when his late tackle caught Gabriel Fanibuyan. Having already been booked in the first half, he escaped with just a ticking off from the referee, despite the protests of the away side. It was to be the last action of the first half as Wealdstone went in two goals to the good
The second half started in much the same way as the first, with Chesham having a couple of efforts early on. First, Chris Bangura’s low drive from the edge of the box was saved by North, before a deflected Danny Talbot free kick was expertly tipped round the post by Jonathan North. Chesham did pull one back from the resultant corner though, when centre back Rob Bartley’s towering header went in off the cross bar.
Any fears that there was going to be a repeat of Saturday were eased four minutes later though, when Lee Chappell ran onto Chris O’leary’s smart through ball, and then produced a classy finish from the edge of the box, curling the ball into the bottom corner with the outside of his boot.
After the third goal Chesham seemed to let their heads drop, and from that point on they never really looked like threatening. Wealdstone didn’t ease up though, and added a fourth on 75 minutes, when man of the match Peter Dean ran onto a through ball, before rounding the keeper and slotting in his second goal of the night.
Dean then almost completed his hat-trick five minutes later when he raced onto a Sean Cronin pass, however Gore came rushing out of his goal and was just able to get to the ball first.
Chesham now looked like a side who well beaten, and as the game moved into the final few minutes, Stones were able to slow the pace down and close the game out to record a morale boosting victory.
Wealdstone will be looking to carry this form over into their next game, a tough looking encounter at home to Lowestoft Town at The Vale this Saturday.
Wealdstone: North, Forbes, Chappell (c), Parker (Locke), Massey, Brooks, Dean (Spendlove), O’leary, Cronin, Fitzgerald (N’goyi), Dyer. Subs not used: Thomas, Pattison, Lavers, Martin
Man of the Match: Peter Dean
Attendance: 366
By Stuart Warren
Steve Foster Match Pics HERE