Inscrutable Khalsa Stamp Chinese Year On Ely, Like Roosters Over Robins…
Ely City 0-3 Sporting Khalsa
(FA Vase Round 5: the last 16…)
The Chinese Year of the Rooster was upon us as Round 5 of the FA Vase attracted a decent crowd to Ely, where the Robins entertained Sporting Khalsa from the Black Country but were summarily dismissed from the competition without so much as testing visiting goalie Tom Turner who certainly ruled his roost, rarely having to repel any serious offense by the hosts. His team then finally shook off the tedious opening 20 minutes, wherein both teams were quite awful, often misplacing passes or kicking wildly at the ball and heading it lots, in an atmosphere which might have been too quiet even for a morgue. There had rarely even been any polite applause in that tense early period but gradually Khalsa began to exert their strength and forced home goalie Harry Reynolds into meaningful action, making three or four fine saves. All the hosts conjured up was a penalty claim, as Carlo Franco slid into the lively George Darling (does he know Peter Pan?) but the referee was unimpressed. After the break, dead-ball specialist Craig Bannister fired a superb goal from which Sporting took heart and when Dave Meese lashed home a penalty then the gymnastic Marvin Nisbett poked home a third goal, the Robins were well beaten, deflated and despite a plucky attempt, were deservedly dumped from the competition.
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| EARLY KNOCK FOR SHEARER... |
An early corner by Ely’s designated danger man Kelvin Enaro, whose threat was largely nullified by the attentions of Franco and also Tim Jackson of Khalsa, saw central defender Tom Williams challenge aerially but the situation fizzled out and so apart from a couple of Sporting corners and a weak Yusifu Ceesay header wide, the much anticipated game had begun disappointingly. Even the support from a very sedate set of spectators was in desperate need of a good whipping up. Finally, one Bannister delivery from the left was actually to prove awkward for Williams and company but it was the smaller Nisbett who rose to plant a downward header goalwards but Reynolds dived right and pushed the effort behind for a corner.
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| PERKS EXECISES HIS SHOULDERS DURING THE GAME... |
A Michael Perks shot for Sporting was deflected for a corner on the right but nothing ensued from the flag-kick, yet it was becoming plain that Khalsa were settling down more and from another Jackson corner on the right, home midfielder Ash Walter’s header towards his own goal was pushed away by Reynolds. Then Darling, certainly Ely’s most inventive player, shoved a one-two link with Walter but fell under Franco’s challenge which might just have nudged the ball away from the Robin. No spot-kick was forthcoming and from then on, Khalsa dominated. From a deep Joe Rogers free-kick, Tesfa Robinson rose, as he does, to nod the ball down for Meese to strike from 16 yards but Reynolds reacted well to turn the ball over his crossbar. The resulting right-wing corner by Jackson was cleared off the City goal-line at the far post by busy midfielder Liam Griffin.
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| THE ELY FLAG WAS DWARFED BY KHALSA'S... |
Ceesay, after a slow start, was beginning to worry the home defence, in which Williams was generally a warrior and after good work by the tall Khalsa forward, Bannister clipped a fine right-footer just wide of the right upright from 25 yards, inside-left channel. Perks’ delivery from a similar position forced Reynolds to rush left across his goal and leap to tip the ball away from the top corner and as the first-half waned, Reynolds spilled a low cross from the right by Nisbett and although in the melee which followed Luke Shearer back-heeled the loose ball against the inside of the right upright, an offside flag was waving against the Khalsa forward.
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| TURNER: NOT A LOT TO DO... |
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| THAT SKY AGAIN... |
Sporting had certainly forced their hosts back without really looking spectacular but with likely goalscorers Ash Shipp and Alex Theobald on the bench for City, it was possibly not surprising that with Enaro too well marshalled and Sam Reed ploughing a lone furrow in attack, Ely hadn’t really threatened during the opening period. It was good to see the Khalsa substitutes not simply banging shots at the goal-frame during the interval but actually standing in a crude circle and working on skills, including replacement ‘keeper Mihai Gherasim. Why don’t more teams use the break to warm up their substitutes more usefully and with some method?
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| THE KHALSA REPLACEMENTS WORKING HARD... |
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| IF I'D PAINTED THIS, I'D HAVE BEEN PLEASED... |
The second-half began with a low shot by Reed for City but there was no power and Turner made sure he rubbed some dirt onto his shorts by falling right to gather. A Ceesay shot was blocked for the Roosters, sorry I meant Khalsa and Rogers worked hard to set up Ceesay again in a period of attacking by the guests but the slim forward’s effort from 22 yards rolled past the left stick. Then the game’s significant moment arrived, for Ely got their chance to strike but failed to take it, then a few minutes later, Sporting finally if unsportingly took a chance of their own. Darling created space in midfield and slipped a fine pass inside Jackson for Matt Simpson to fasten onto but as he bore into the right side of the penalty-box, his control deserted him and Sporting breathed a relieving sigh.
At the opposite end, Bannister took possession some 25 yards out at inside-right, moved forward and sent a superb right-booted shot high over the leaping Reynolds and the Khalsa contingent went wild when the ball dropped into the far corner of the net. A real Chinese cracker…
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| GOAL AT LAST... |
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| MEANT A LOT... |
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| BIG HUGS FOR A BIG GOAL... |
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| BANNISTER HAD STEPPED UP... |
Ceesay was becoming even more of a problem for the home defence and he slipped Shearer away at inside-left but somehow the forward miscued with only the advancing Reynolds to beat and the ball rolled many yards wide of the right post. Theobald replaced Simpson for City but before he could make any impact, his team was 0-2 behind. Shearer did well against Williams on the right-flank and lifted the ball inside the defender, only to be pulled back slightly which the nearby linesman spotted and of course a penalty was awarded. The ball was placed just in front of the penalty-spot by Meese which infuriated Reynolds and the ‘keeper was cautioned for interfering with the position of it. Subsequently with the ball ironically again slightly in front of the spot, Meese smashed the spot-kick into the roof of the net off the underside of the crossbar.
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| SHEARER CURSES THE MOLE WHICH BOBBLED THE BALL... |
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| GREAT SKY AGAIN... |
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| WILLIAMS APPEALS... |
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| SHEARER SITS... |
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| REYNOLDS COMPLAINS... |
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| KHALSA CELEBRATE... |
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| ...& IT'S 0-2... |
A brilliant tackle by Franco on Reed stopped Ely from possibly getting a goal back and then Griffin and Enaro, who must have been so disappointed, were withdrawn and Shipp joined Craig Neal in the fray for the hosts. Franco was hurt but carried on for a while then Shearer took a break for Sporting and Brad Lawley took his place. The third goal arrived when Meese's pass saw Ceesay dribble to the right byeline past Brookes and unselfishly deliver a low centre for the lurking Nisbett to convert through the covering Reynolds’ legs and the Khalsa man leapt into an Arab-spring/back-flip celebration, caught on film I might add…
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| 0-3 NOW... |
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| REYNOLDS & WILLIAMS ARE DISTRAUGHT... |
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| NISBETT IS HUGGED... |
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| RESULT CONFIRMED... |
Right-back Dan Jeffrey was cautioned for hauling down Nisbett who had just tricked him, Mensah Kinch and Jon Haynes replaced Khalsa’s Ceesay and Franco and home defender Ollie Brookes was forced to clear in a hurry after Nisbett made a fine run to the left byeline. A splendid dribble on the right by Kinch led to a good cross too and Reynolds caught Bannister’s 8 yard header, then as the game petered out Turner advanced from goal to boot the ball clear at the 18 yard line but Theobald’s foot interceded, the ball rose like a Chinese New Year firework and dropped for Reed to lob at an unguarded goal only for his effort to drop a few yards wide of the left upright.
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| JEFFREY EARNS A CAUTION... |
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| NISBETT: LURKING WITH INTENT... |
The game ended and the better, stronger, more aggressive team had advanced to the last eight of the competition, although Ely were certainly not disgraced. Reynolds played well in goals, Williams was as dynamic as possible in defence and Darling was always good in possession but to get past the powerful Sporting skipper Robinson was a tough ask, alongside the tenacious Rogers. Jackson’s left-foot was cultured at times, Meese was a lurking danger as well as a ball winner, Nisbett was a wily customer to deal with, Ceesay was an awkward fellow to mark and Perks was obstinate in midfield, usually on hand to shove in a tackle and lay off the ball sensibly. Bannister’s set-pieces improved as the game wore on and his goal was as important as it was spectacular. Franco though deserves a lot of credit for his work on Enaro and that fine challenge on Reed when the score was 0-2.
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| WOW... |
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| ABOVE & BELOW: SPORTING KHALSA CELEBRATE THEIR FINE WIN... |
Me? A long journey back to Solihull but at least the roads were fine… Even drove through St Ives, whose team I saw dramatically win at Stratford on Tuesday evening…
It’s what I do…
TEAMS:
ELY CITY:
HARRY REYNOLDS, DAN JEFFREY, JAMIE ALSOP (CAPT), LIAM GRIFFIN, TOM WILLIAMS, OLLIE BROOKES, KELVIN ENARO, ASH WALTER, SAM REED, GEORGE DARLING, MATT SIMPSON.
SUBS:
ASH SHIPP, ALEX THEOBALD, CRAIG NEAL, NATHAN LITTLEFAIR, DOMINIC HUNT.
SPORTING KHALSA:
TOM TURNER, JOE ROGERS, TIM JACKSON, CARLO FRANCO, TESFA ROBINSON (CAPT), MICHAEL PERKS, LUKE SHEARER, DAVE MEESE, CRAIG BANNISTER, MARVIN NISBETT, YUSIFU CEESAY.
SUBS:
BRAD LAWLEY, MENSAH KINCH, JON HAYNES, AARON PERRIN, MIHAI GHERASIM (GK).
