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Match Report |
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York
City
Sodje 2 (18, 71), Farrell
3 (79, 85, 88), Wroe (90) |
6 |
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FA
Cup 4th Qualifying Round - 27th October 2007
At KitKat Crescent - Att 1,630 (59 Rushall) |
Report
York eased into the first round of the FA with a resounding
victory over an unlucky Rushall side. The Minstermen were made
to fight for a two goal lead before an astonishing twenty minutes
of football saw them equal their record F.A. cup victory.
Olympic started well but struggled to keep the ball on the ground.
Their hard tackling and physical play caused City problems and
it was the away side that had the first chance of the game when
Lee Barrow launched a hopeful shot over the bar and into the
Grosvenor Road End.
Despite strong showings from York’s centre back pairing
of Kelly and McGurk
this game was all about attack and counterattack as both sides
made the most of the space afforded to them and chased apparently
lost chances. Sean Dowdall was a constant menace and at one
point it required five York players to stop his solo run but
the home side found their first half star in Onome
Sodje. The young striker made the most of his pace to nip
around Rushall’s defence and calmly pass the ball into
the bottom-left corner of the net on 18 minutes.
Captain Manny Panther
was in fine form as he teamed up with top-scorer Sodje to put
on occasionally brilliant displays of flowing football, at one
point beating half the Rushall team only for Darren Kelly to
scuff the rebounded shot. Yet once again York showed a far too
common lapse of concentration as Dowdall and Gary Birch took
their chances on the counterattack and forced strong saves from
Tom Evans and no-nonsense
clearances by City’s defence.
Shortly before half time a York corner resulted in a chaotic
series of events as Martyn
Woolford took three attempts to get his cross in. The ball
was eventually sent to Stuart
Elliott on the edge of the penalty box who lumbered in to
take a shot that ricocheted off the underneath of the crossbar,
bouncing just the wrong side of the goalline. Following a penalty
box scramble goalkeeper Tony Breedon eventually gathered the
ball from another of Elliott’s strikes.
After the interval York began to exert the dominance that had
been expected of them. Woolford and Panther set up several shots
for Sodje and were unlucky that none of them were converted.
In the end the ex-Gravesend player did the hard work himself,
picking up a Darren
Craddock pass from the halfway line and running the length
of the right wing. While his teammates awaited a cross the striker
nimbly moved into the centre of the pitch, skipped around the
defenders in the 18yd box and tucked the ball into the near
corner of the goal.
Yet little could Sodje expect that his astounding solo efforts
were to be upstaged by the return of fan-favourite Craig
Farrell. Making his first team appearance for almost two
months he showed little of the thigh injury that has plagued
him for so long and was greeted by cheers from the David Longhurst
stand after he replaced Richard
Brodie halfway through the second period. Playing as though
he had a point to prove and facing a clearly tiring Rushall
side Farrell proceeded to score a fantastic thirteen minute
hatrick that announced his return in style. Each wonderfully
executed shot was taken from just inside the penalty area and
there was little that the defence could do stop them.
Utilising their superior fitness York took advantage of their
opposition’s hesitation and played the most complete football
that they have produced this season. Alex
Rhodes came on as substitute and had a chance to score on
his home debut but by the time Farrell set up Nicky
Wroe for the sixth goal of the match the result was not
in doubt.
York will now play Havant & Waterlooville at home on 10th
November in the first round of the FA Cup.
Ref: P. Tierney
The Teams
York City: Tom Evans, Darren Craddock, David
McGurk, Darren Kelly, Mark Robinson, Paul Brayson (Nicky Wroe
77), Emmanuel Panther, Stuart Elliott, Martyn Woolford, Richard
Brodie (Craig Farrell 59), Onome Sodje (Alex Rhodes 80)
Subs (unused): Josh Mimms, Danny Parslow
Booked: none
Rushall Olympic: Breeden, Gough, Barrow, Preston,
Beale, Beckett (Haywood 83), Brown, Rowe (Charie 66), Barnfield
(Holdcroft 83), Birch, Dowdall
Subs (unused): Szewczyk, Johnson
Booked: none |
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