FA VASE 1ST QUALIFYING ROUND
TUESDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER 2016
BOURNEMOUTH POPPIES 4 VERWOOD TOWN 3

Craig Jerrard donned the gloves for this FA Vase game against Poppies. Tom Jackson’s broken fingers and Ray Stroud’s 3 match ban Gave Jerrard an opportunity to stake a claim to a keeper spot.

Work commitments and injuries made Kris Anderton and Adie Arnold go for yet another changed line up but we still managed a 4 man bench.

The game was only 3 minutes old when Poppies burst through to put a shot wide of the upright.

We hit back immediately with a move sparked by Dyer. A ball wide left found Kelly, a reverse pass gave space for Bergin to make a run but Bergin’s cross was booted out of the area.

A minute later Kelly again went close rounding a full back but shooting from a narrow angle into the keeper’s hands.

Then we had a spell of Poppies dominance. Direct play gave runners a chance to shine but Phelps and Martin Smith did exceptionally well keeping the ball from Jerrard.

Evans turned defence into attack with a sound tackle in the box and going clear brought Maddocks into the game with a threaded pass through the middle. Maddocks spun and launched a pass wide for Gajic to take up the running. Gajic found Dyer just outside the area and a square pass was hammered for goal. Dyer was inches away from opening the scoring.

Bergin pulled up short on 23 minutes with a hamstring problem. On came Goddard.

Poppies had a bit more possession than us and Jerrard had to be on his toes to take a high ball into the box preventing a close header.

34 minutes a free kick for Poppies wasn’t cleared properly and a low shot from just inside the box took a slight defection leaving Jerrard spread eagled. 0-1.

A couple of minutes later Martin Smith took the ball off toes and slipping the ball sideways found Cane in space on the left. Cane on to Dyer on to Pepe Smith and we cut through on the left. A low angled shot hit the side netting.

2 minutes left and Poppies almost went two up when a free kick just outside the box flew past the wall and hit the foot of the post and bounced out.

Half Time 0-1.

Dyer found Gajic with a raking ball and an inch perfect cross found Kelly bursting through a heavily populated area to plant a header past the keeper. 1-1 and 52 minutes on the clock.

A Pepe Smith break on 54 minutes should have yielded a second but the ball flew across the area with no one close enough to touch the ball into the net.

That was Pepe’s swan song. A thigh strain meant a substitution and on came Matt Gilham on a one for one.

We then posed for a still life artist. A run through the middle went completely unchallenged and the ball was eased past Jerrard 1-2.

Maddocks and Dyer dug into a battle in the middle of the park resulting in a Maddocks cross field ball finding Gajic in space. A quick break and Gajic unleashed a curler into the top corner of the net. 2-2.

It was then a goal fest. 2 minutes after Gajic had leveled, a cross drifted into our box and edged its way into the net without any effort to stop it. 2-3.

We pressured but couldn’t break through a resilient defence. Gajic hit the bar and then Kelly had a brilliant effort palmed out by an athletic keeper.

Jerrard then beat out a low volley but was static when the re bound was fired low back for goal. Cane luckily got in the way and cleared up field.

The game see sawed. Gajic looked most likely to grab a leveler with a couple of cracking efforts but Poppies defended well, blocking a couple of shots in the six yard box.

91 minutes a free kick given away 30 yards out was punted for goal. Jerrard‘s movement was to pick the ball up from the back of the net. 2-4.

We pushed on. Dyer had a shot that went wide and then a thunderous Kelly volley hit the cross bar and bounced out.

95 minutes our pressure paid off when Kelly burst into the area from a Gajic pass and was dropped before getting a shot away. Kelly stepped up to take the penalty and make it 3-4.

There was insufficient time for another so the whistle went on a Poppies victory.

Result 3-4