Wealdstone 4 – 0 Banbury United
Wealdstone
3QRR4 - 0
Banbury United
A hatrick from Richard Jolly saw Wealdstone cruise into the next round of the FA Trophy, as they ran out comfortable 4-0 winners against Banbury United on Tuesday evening.
Following Saturday’s 0-0 draw between the sides, Stones would have perhaps been expecting a sterner test; however they were never really in danger of losing this tie once Chris O’Leary had put them ahead on 19 minutes. Wealdstone’s reward for this victory is an intriguing home tie against near neighbours Uxbridge in the next round.
There were three changes to the side from Saturday’s game, with Scott Fitzgerald, David Hicks and Sean Cronin making way for Peter Dean, Nikki Ahamed and Chris O’Leary, as Stones looked to secure their place in the 1st Round proper for the second season running.
After a quiet opening, Wealdstone almost took the lead on 15 minutes when Nikki Ahamed turned neatly on the half way line before finding Peter Dean on the left hand side. Dean played a great driven pass across the other side to Richard Jolly who could unfortunately only drag his shot wide from close range after turning the defender.
They did take the lead four minutes later though. James Hammond took a quick throw on the right hand side which found Dean, with the striker smartly flicking the ball back to Chris O’Leary who volleyed the ball past ‘keeper Andrew Kemp.
O’Leary then turned provider two minutes later, latching onto Dean’s flick before threading an inch perfect pass through to Jolly. Having missed the chance earlier on in the game, Jolly made no mistake this time cooly slotting past Andrew Kemp to
put his side two goals up.
Wealdstone were now playing some great attacking football, and Peter Dean was next to go close, hitting a powerful effort which was well saved by Kemp following a neat pullback from Scott McCubbin.
Banbury then had their best chance of the first half seven minutes before the break, with Will Green firing just over from 20 yards, as the visitors desperately tried to keep the tie alive.
They were still struggling to deal with the flowing attacking football of Stones though, and they could have conceded a third on
the stroke of half time; with Dean seeing his effort palmed away by Kemp, and then from the resultant corner Wes Parker saw his bullet header fly just wide.
It took Wealdstone just three minutes of the second half though to grab a third goal and effectively kill the game. Alex Dyer got down the left hand side before pulling the ball back to Jolly. Jolly then had time to take a touch before side footing past Kemp
for his second of the evening.
Stones then nearly added a fourth five minutes later, this time the chance falling to Nikki Ahamed who inexplicably poked the ball wide from close range after a scramble in the Banbury box.
The lightning pace of Nikki Ahamed was causing problems for Banbury down the left, and the youngster’s speed nearly created a fourth for
Stones in the 65th minute. The former Chelsea man outpaced two defenders before squaring to Jolly who fired just wide of the post.
With Wealdstone cruising, it was the perfect opportunity to hand a debut to Watford loanee Connor Smith who replaced Alex Dyer in the midfield. Stones then added a fourth with ten minutes to play, with Scott McCubbin threading a great through ball to Jolly, who slammed the ball majestically past Kemp to seal a hatrick for the striker.
There was even a chance late on for substitute Britt Assombalonga to open his Wealdstone account; however Kemp did well to palm away the striker’s header after a great cross from James Hammond.
A comfortable and progressive night for Wealdstone and they can now look forward to a home encounter with Uxbridge in the next round on Saturday 10th December.
Wealdstone: North, Hammond, McCubbin, Parker (c), Massey, Dyer (Smith 78), Brooks, O’Leary (Hicks 80), Dean, Jolly (Assombalonga 80) Ahamed. Subs not used: Fitzgerald, Adjei.
Man of the Match: Wes Parker
By Stuart Warren
Steve Foster Match Pics HERE