Crowborough Athletic 1 - 2 Wimborne Town FC.

Attendance 518

The third round qualifying of the FA cup saw Crowborough take on Wimborne. In front of a large crowd at Charles Century Stadium the away side were awarded for making the 120 mile journey with a win.

Crowborough were encouraged by the atmosphere and the occasion and started the game the better of the two sides. There were two chances within the first 5 minutes for the home side. The first from a corner taken by Francis found Puffette on the penalty spot who headed the ball over, you could see he was frustrated not to do better. The second chance again came over a corner, a cleared ball fell to Puffette who set Duncan who couldn’t create enough of an angle on his shot to get it past the keeper.

Crowborough played a direct and physical game from the start and Wimborne during the first half struggled with this. It was clear to see they had some technically good players but they couldn’t get themselves into the game with the intensity Crowborough played at.

However, Crowborough couldn’t capitalise on their dominance. Two more half chances fell their way, a brilliant first touch into space by Pring played through Samuel-Smikle with his chance deflecting wide. In the final minute of the half Hutcheon came agonisely close to finding Samuel-Smikle with a pass across the six yard box with the striker stretching out to just miss what would have been a simple tap in.

When the second half began Wimborne rose to the occasion. They created a bit of luck for themselves in the 57th minute. A ball from the right side of the pitch by Wooding, who was Wimborne’s main threat throughout, ricocheted between defenders and attacker with the ball touching a defender’s arm, a penalty was awarded. Roundell struck a confident penalty to give the away side the lead.

The second half was dominated by Wimborne possession with the home side needing a moment of magic to bring them back into the game. That very moment came from Samuel-Smikle, the striker received the ball with plenty to do, he moved the ball in and out trying to find a way to create a shooting opportunity. Once he found that half a yard of space to angle a shot, he curled the ball wonderfully in the top hand corner from outside of the box. A brilliant FA cup moment, setting up an exciting 15 minutes to settle the tie.

The goal brought the game to life with both teams fighting for the win. Just four minutes later Wimborne found their second goal. A floated corner by Walker hung the ball in the air directly into the crowded area. The ball was cleared to Seung on the edge of the box who set Roberts for a great strike into the roof of the net.

It was a great contest between the two sides for the remainder of the game. Wimborne came close again from another similar corner routine. Roberts and Samuel-Smikle had a constant battle setting up an excellent old-school defender v attacker clash. In the 5th minute of the 7 additional minutes, Pearson hit the side netting from the final corner of the game coming frustratingly close to setting up a replay.

Wimborne managed to hold on to progress through to the next round making that long journey home feel much quicker. A special mention to Crowborough, the third round of qualifying for the FA cup is an incredible achievement for the club.