Lang Jacks blitz adds gloss to comfortable victory
WHICKHAM romped to an emphatic 4-0 win at Jarrow to book their place in the FA Vase second qualifying roun.
After an uneventful first half in which both teams created very little, Whickham dominated the majority of the second half and deservedly came out on top after a well-organised display.
Scott Robson scored a brace – the first of which came after just two minutes – while fellow strikers Stephen Hall and Mitchell Ramsay notched late on to seal the victory.
Shay Richardson’s floated ball over the top was ideal for Robson, who headed it past Jarrow goalkeeper James Lone to open the scoring very early on.
Richardson was a nuisance for the home side and started another dangerous move as he drilled a through ball to George Priest, who delivered an inch-perfect cross, but Robson’s header failed to trouble the goalkeeper.
That man Richardson created an opportunity for himself five minutes before half-time after collecting the ball out on the left but Lone comfortably gathered his 20-yard curling effort.
After a close first half with just one goal separating the sides, the second period started in a similar nervy fashion.
Hall created the first opportunity after the restart after cutting in from the right, but his attempt was off target.
Whickham should have doubled their lead with 20 minutes remaining when substitute Ramsay, who was unmarked 12 yards out, blazed a speculative overhead kick over Lone’s crossbar.
But the visitors eventually sealed the win with four minutes left through Hall.
The striker latched onto a through ball from Robson before coolly slotting under the advancing Lone to double Whickham’s lead.
But the Lang Jacks weren’t finished, with Ramsay netting his first of the season and Whickham’s third of the afternoon.
Right-back Tom Howard found Ramsay in space from a throw-in and the striker glided past three defenders before thumping the ball home.
Robson rounded off a comfortable victory in added time, dinking the ball over Lone and tapping the ball into an empty net following a perfectly timed pass over the Jarrow defence.
JARROW: Lone, Bone, Simpson, Johnson, Little, Hudson, David Smith, Daniel Smith, North, Thompson (Bowie), Wilkinson (Ames). Subs not used: Wilson, Elrick, Mitchell, Morgan, Bolam.
WHICKHAM: Harker, Howard, Moody, Burrell, Agnew, Richardson, Hall, Smith, Robson, Jasper (Ramsay), Priest. Subs not used: Below, Bannon, Peareth, Lizinde, Gibson.