FA
Cup 1st Round - 10th November 2007
At KitKat Crescent - Att 2001 (105 Havant)
Report
Momma said there'd be days like these. If last week's
win over Farsley was achieved with a touch of elegance, this
humbling defeat to a well-organised Havant and Waterlooville
side was perhaps typified more by the touch of an elephant.
There'll be no cup run for the Minstermen this year. Instead,
the Hawks progress and deservedly so.
After an impeccably observed minute's silence in remembrance
of those fallen in conflict, City started brightly despite the
Hawks having the first real chance as a shot following a corner
was deflected wide. Onome
Sodje and Paul
Brayson were causing the Hampshire part-timers problems
with their pace, forcing the Hawks to pack the defence. City
did have chances though. Craig
Farrell - recalled to the starting line-up - scuffed wide
after being set clear and he failed to control after Mark
Robinson had teed him up after Robinson's own shot had been
saved.
Martyn Woolford
was again a thorn in the opposition's side and his persistence
got him to the byeline, but Sodje wanted more time than the
Hawks were prepared to allow him to get the shot away and he
ended up playing it gently to goalkeeper Kevin Scriven who had
a massive let-off shortly after. Stuart
Elliott played Farrell in and Scriven came flying out of
goal in an attempt to clear but missed it completely with only
some superb work from centre-back Tom Jordan sparing his blushes.
Following that long spell of City pressure, the Hawks began
to play themselves back into proceedings. Jamie Collins set
up Mo Harkin for an effort that was nudged wide before Harkin
put the visitors ahead. Jamie Slabber's shot was blocked by
Tom Evans, but straight
into the path of the flying winger and he fired into the roof
of the net for 1-0 to the Blue Square South side on 24 minutes.
On the half hour, the lead was nearly doubled as Slabber and
Harkin combined well again only to see Slabber head over the
top from six yards. Havant were well on top by this stage and
it prompted swift action from Billy
McEwan as he withdrew Paul Brayson - later announced as
the sponsor's man of the match - for the more direct Richard
Brodie. Farrell was switched to the right flank and he had
a chance to work Scriven, but headed tamely at him following
Woolford's cross. Slabber was withdrawn following an injury
with ten minutes of the first half remaining and replaced by
Richard Pacquette, but both sides seemed to be looking for the
whistle to go and only the bookings of Hawks pair Collins and
Charlie Oatway punctuated a game of head tennis.
The visitors began the second half well, but City had their
best spell about ten minutes into the period. The Hawks defence
couldn't get it away as shots rained in with two efforts cleared
off the line before Sodje's overhead shot brought out the best
from Scriven with a full-length save. For all the pressure,
City couldn't engineer any better chances than that, though
they forced the defence to scramble back after a swift City
counter-attack with Sodje prominent.
With quarter of an hour to go, it was time for a change of formation
with Nicky Wroe introduced
in place of Elliott and Farrell moving up top to make it a 4-3-3.
Havant and Waterlooville responded by packing the midfield and
getting plenty of bodies behind the ball as it all began to
get a bit frantic. And yet it was the Hawks who had the better
chance with Rocky Baptiste - a real handful all day long - shooting
over when well clear. 4-3-3 then became 3-3-4 as Darren Kelly
was replaced by Alex
Rhodes, but the patterns changed little. If anything, City
looked vulnerable on the counter. Indeed, Pacquette had a couple
of chances before getting himself booked for kicking the ball
away after being caught offside. As stoppage time approached,
a free-kick on the edge of the box was City's final opportunity
to deny the Hawks a deserved win, but City's day was summed
up with Farrell's shot not even beating the wall. Three minutes
later, Russell Fletcher's whistle brought the curtain down on
another FA Cup campaign - strangled in it's infancy by a hungrier
side.
So well done to the Hawks. They came with a plan, they were
organised and City could not break them down. It was a disappointing
performance almost from first to last. If there's to be a backlash
as City can now concentrate on the league (FA Cup cliche), it's
Salisbury who can expect to feel it as they visit KitKat
Crescent in a week's time.
Ref: R. Fletcher
The Teams
York City: Evans; Craddock, McGurk, Kelly (Rhodes
85), Robinson; Brayson (Brodie 31), Elliott (Wroe 74), Panther,
Woolford; Sodje, Farrell
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