Exiles London FA Sunday Cup win

[Alan Crockford]

Another win for the Exeter Exiles in our London FA County Cup, so we're into the last 16 now.

I'll let Banzai post a bit more info if he has a minute.

Away to Oak Royal or Greenhouse Bethwin SE in the fifth round on Sun 10 Jan. If it's Bethwin they have no fewer than 26 teams (I quote their website) 'Situated between two of the most notorious estates in South London/'

Geddon you Exiyowes...

 

[banzai]

Exiles lined up: Fisher, Waluube, Evans, Leach T, Hill T, Leach B, Finch,
Wragg, Steele, Leach J, Bedford; Subs (unused): Casey, Barnes

An excellent victory more comfortable than the scoreline suggests sees the
Aze advancing into the last 16 of the prestigious FA London Junior Cup.

Far from ideal footie conditions at CS ground. Pitch boggy in parts, okay
in others, with a fierce diagonal wind that made playing difficult, but
watching from the sidelines I was surprised at some of the quality on
display.

It was proper football from both sides and Bromley Hill are clearly an
organised outfit. Plenty of subs and training tops with Bromley Hill on
the back is about as near to pro as we're ever likely to get.

It was Bromley who opened the scoring, taking us by surprise with a
Delap-a-like exocet that flicked off somebody's head into the net early
on. That we somehow managed to nullify that particular weapon for the rest
of the match goes some way to explaining our victory.

Exeter dealt well with going behind though and it soon became evident who
were the more accomplished side. Whilst Bromley clearly know how to play
and passed it around reasonable well, we had more variety and incision,
and began to dominate with the slope and wind to our advantage.

Several chances went begging before we finally scored, quickly following
up with two more. The order escapes me, but Wraggy continued his fine
scoring run with a brace, one a header, the other a shot from close in,
both from corners. Finchy got the pick of those first-half goals, Steeler
feeding him the ball on the right as he sped past his man like a whippet
before beating the goalie with ease.

So 3-1 up at the break. We knew the first ten minutes of the half would be
crucial with the conditions now against us, and the bauys had their battle
dress on. It was a huge surprise when we scored almost from the off with a
cracking goal, and another contender for the end of season bauble.

Finchy completely skinned the full-back down the right before sending over
a peach of a cross at pace, which Jim, soaring like a big ginger salmon,
met at the near post to glance precisely into the other corner. A proper
goal that you don't see to often at our level.

For the rest of the half Bromley shaded it territorially although we
probably created as many chances. As a defensive unit we were excellent,
particularly the keeper, and back four of Waluube, Evans, Hill, and Tom
Leach - who's proving a valuable addition along with brother Ben.

With about 15 to go Bromley did get one back, but aside from forcing one
excellent one-on-one save from Ollie, didn't create much else. Lee and me
decided that as we were both carrying niggles we'd leave the team as it
was to see the game out, and that proved a good decision, despite them
nicking a last minute third.

Considering the conditions I thought we played some cracking passing
football, mixing it up with the odd long ball to keep the oppo honest and
digging in and fighting when we had to; in MOM Wraggy's case almost
literally as he clashed with the one bad Bromley apple in the barrel,
fortunately to be dragged away before getting out the axe! Most
importantly we really played for each other and showed great spirit. More
of the same please.

We've got either Oak Royal or Greenhouse Bethwin SE in the next round on
January 10th. Please everyone, try to keep this free, along with the 7th
of Feb (quarters) and 7th of March (semis). Still a way to go to the final
(date tbc) but let's give it our best shot as this tournament is a big
deal as far as our world of Sunday footie is concerned.

---

Steeler writes ...

Banz forgot to mention my 2 corners and throughball for our 4th, which sent finchy down the right after some neat one two stuff. It was like threading a piece of cotton through a needle............when i think of that goal it makes me very moist....


Gilo wrotes ...

"Finchy completely skinned the full-back down the right before sending
over a peach of a cross at pace, which Jim, soaring like a big ginger
salmon, met at the near post to glance precisely into the other corner.
A proper goal that you don't see to often at our level."

Sounds like a carbon copy of Richard Pears' goal at Ninian Park in the
mid-90s to seal a 1-0 win. Right wing cross then too so must've been
Stuart Storer. You're both in good company there from the days of Bally
holding us in the old Division 2. Our contribution to that move was a
couple of monster Storer-esque taches on display in the nearby
pitches...

Well done Aze!

 

[Jason H]

Another great win for the Aze, adding to finally turning good performances into wins in the league too. Geddon!

 

[banzai]

You collating the reports for Mike, Jason? Feel free to use the reports, although note us is playing under the Exeter Exiles banner in the London FA cup.

 

[Jason H]

I will have to look back to see what I've got for the season to date - my e-mail is rubbish at being stored up unless I specifically do it. First up would probably be a quick retrospective of the season so far followed by some slightly condensed reports of both Aze and Bauys.