Wealdstone 3 – 0 Leighton Town
Wealdstone
2QRR3 - 0
Leighton TownStones made a couple of changes for tonight’s replay to try and stamp their authority on the tie against Leighton Town, and to some extent it worked, as they ran out 3-0 winners, but not without a couple of shocks, and certainly it wasn’t a flowing performance for the purists.
Wealdstone created the first chance of an even opening spell, unfortunately for the opposition as Lee Chappell missed a kick allowing Hassan to break through, but Stones were let off as his shot hit the post and came back into play, but that was really the sum of their efforts on goal in the first period, despite having the lions share of the play.
Stones took the lead on 13 minutes when Stanic Rosboud was on the end of a move that included Montgomery, Papali and Gooderick in the build up, before Stanic slotted the ball home from close range,
There was little else of note in the first period as Stones allowed Leighton to play, but defended well enough to prevent any further trouble at the back, yet their passing was poor as moves broke down going forward without troubling the visiting keeper.
The second half saw a re-jig in midfield for Stones which certainly gave them the greater share of the ball, limiting Leighton still further, but it wasn’t until the 71st minute Stones extended their lead when out of sorts Gavin Bamford showed some of the ability he has. He collected the ball midway into the Leighton half, his first four touches took him past two defenders and he struck a sublime shot from 25 yards that curled into the top corner of the net to cue a celebration from the players that we all hope has exorcised the frustrations built up over a couple of weeks.
Stones third came ten minutes later when Montgomery, now playing in the hole behind the front two cut inside and hit a shot low and hard from outside the penalty box – Maarman couldn’t hold on and the ball rebounded to the onrushing Papali who slotted home from 6 yards.
Leighton had the final chance of the evening when awarded a penalty, but it wasn’t their night as Carroll saved the kick and the rebound was blasted over the bar to give Stones the victory and a clean sheet.
Wealdstone: Lee Carroll, Jay Carbon s74 Stuart Goodall, Lee Chappell, Stanic Rosboud 13 s72 John Christian, Kevin Swift, Stuart Bamford, Gavin Bamford 71 Matt Gooderick, Chris O’Leary s88 Fergus Moore, Dean Papali 83, Graeme Montgomery, Subs Not Used: Dave Lawrence,
Harrow Times
Dour struggle for Stones…..
Wealdstone 3 Leighton Town 0.
F A Trophy, 2nd Qualifying Round Replay.
THE scoreline might make the game seem an easy victory for Wealdstone, but the truth is that Leighton were again a match for Stones in what was a dour struggle in the gloom and fog of Tuesday evening, writes Steve Paull.
Still, that is now seven games unbeaten for Wealdstone, so they must be doing something right, even though, like in this game, for long periods it is not pretty.
Things might have been different had Stones taken one of the three excellent chances they created in the opening five minutes. Graeme Montgomery fired over, Kevin Swift was undone by a cruel bounce as he was about to score five yards out, and Gavin Bamford delayed shooting for so long as to have his eventual effort blocked.
But then Johnson, the ever dangerous Leighton striker hit a post with a low shot after seven minutes when latching onto a hopeful through ball.
Wealdstone then took the lead four minutes later when Dean Papali found space on the left and put in a low cross which evaded all until being fired home by Stanislav Rozboud at the far post.
What this goal did not do was set the tone for a rousing cup-tie. Wealdstone now struggled and Leighton were little better. Johnson though was always dangerous, Lee Carroll saved well from the striker and watched later as he just failed to find the target with a cross-shot. Carroll again saved well to keep out a header from McNulty.
Gradually though the Stones defence got to grips with their task, but with the attack still malfunctioning it didn’t make viewing for the purist. On one occasion ironic cheers broke out when Wealdstone put four passes together!
But out of the blue came Wealdstone’s second goal in the 70th minute- and a splendid strike it was too. Gavin Bamford broke a tackle and curled a 20 yard shot past Maarman’s despairing dive and into the corner.
As in the first game between these sides, the immediate introduction of substitutes in the later stages improved the standard of Wealdstone’s play. Papali headed over a Stuart Goodall cross, John Christian had a goalbound shot deflected just wide, and when Maarman spilled Montgomery’s low drive Papali reacted first to force the ball home.
A very late penalty award for a Wealdstone handball naturally led to a penalty but Carroll’s dive to his right kept out Fagan’s spot kick and Clifford put the loose ball over the bar.
It was that sort of night, but Wealdstone progress into the next round….