EKOW KNOWS WAY TO GOAL
TWO GOALS from Ekow Elliott fired Thatcham Town into the FA Vase quarter-finals.
The kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes due to the crowd congestion at Waterside Park, but Elliott soon quietened Bromsgrove’s visiting contingent with his decisive brace within the opening half hour.
Although Richard Gregory reduced the arrears from the penalty spot before half-time, Sporting were unable to get themselves back into the tie and the Kingfishers ran out deserved winners.
Delighted Thatcham Town manager Danny Robinson told The
NLP: “All credit to the players who carried out the plan to the letter. They worked really hard and deserved their success.”
Elliott’s first goal came on 18 minutes when he created some space in the penalty area and fired a low leftfooted strike past Reece Francis into the bottom corner of the net.
Nine minutes later, he added a second goal after Harry Grant had cut in from the left wing.
Elliott used his pace to meet Grant’s cross and guide the ball home with his right foot.
Almost immediately from the restart, Thatcham nearly had the tie wrapped up when Grant thumped a 25-yard shot against the underside of the crossbar.
But the visiting Rouslers soon came back into the tie.
The pace of their front two had been a threat from the outset and on 35 minutes they both played their part in reducing the arrears.
Jason Cowley weaved his way through the penalty area and was brought down by Town goalkeeper Chris Rackley, with Gregory stepping up to convert from the spot.
The same pattern of play continued in the second half, the contest being quite tight with chances at a premium.
Shane Cooper-Clark headed over for the Kingfishers, while Sporting came close on the hour mark when Aaron Roberts surged forward and Max Loveridge’s ball across the face of goal just needed a touch.
But as the game went on, the Rouslers left gaps at the back and Thatcham missed several chances to make the margin of victory more convincing.
The bustling Cooper-Clark caused most of the problems, with the wing play of Elliott and Jemel Johnson stretching the visitors.
Elliott almost glanced home his third from sub Johnson’s cross, while Bab Jarra and Cooper-Clark forced saves from Reece Francis, who also got a vital hand to the ball as Johnson attempted to round him.
Bromsgrove came close to levelling when Gregory flicked a header narrowly wide from a Roberts delivery, but Town closed the game out.