BARKS WORSE THAN HIS BITE
SECOND-half goals from Charlie Barks and James Walshaw saw high-flying Emley reach the quarter-finals of the FA Vase at the expense of Northern League Whickham yesterday at the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground.
The fifth-round fixture was itself a repeat of the only previous meeting of the two sides, when Emley came out on top en route to the semi-finals of the same famous competition some 40 years ago.
But visitors Whickham – who had themselves won the FA Vase back in 1981 – did not go down without a fight and created the game’s first clear scoring chance in the 28th minute when Scott Robson found the side-netting from a tight angle. Walshaw then hit back for Emley as the game started to open up, firing a fierce free-kick narrowly over the crossbar after a foul on Nathan Curtis right on the edge of the box.
Seconds later, Ruben Jermone squandered a fine opportunity to break the deadlock, tamely shooting straight at travelling goalkeeper Dan Lister after twisting and turning in the box to create space for himself for the opening.
The lively Robson then cut in from the left and curled an effort just wide of Alex Petrovic’s goal, as the Lang Jacks – who had scored three goals in their past three outings – showed they were still in the contest.
They went close again through Jerome on 55 minutes as he was denied by Petrovic, having just seen Irywah Gooden’s shot deflected wide for a corner after he had been left unmarked in the box.
But a lapse in concentration from Kieran Charlton would ultimately cost the visitors the game.
On 68 minutes, the fullback’s swing and a miss at the near post allowed a tame corner to sneak through for Barks to stab home from in the midst of a congested sixyard box.
From then on, the hosts were in the driving seat and denied Whickham their only real chance of equalising on 78 minutes when a big challenge from Barks robbed Robson before he could get a shot away.
Then on 82 minutes, the home side were able to double their lead to settle the tie. Jermone won his header to set Walshaw through, the forward kept his composure under pressure from two defenders and picked his spot to fire the Pewits into the next round, grabbing what turned out to be the winning goal to the delight of the home support.
Hosts Emley have now seen off three Northern League sides in this season’s FA Vase campaign and are yet to concede a goal in the competition since they came up against Guisborough in the first round.
The road to Wembley continues for now for Richard Tracey’s Pewits as they storm on into round six, continuing to gather momentum as they go after this hardfought victory.
STAR MAN: Joe Kenny (Emley) ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★