Rovers Ease through in the FA Cup

Willand Rovers moved into the preliminary round of the FA Cup after a 2-1 home win against Wellington AFC, with goals coming from striker Lewis Hill in the 34th minute and an own goal in the 43rd minute after Ollie Bray fired a fierce cross across the goal mouth.

Wellington started the match brightly but their intricate play in midfield failed to produce any clear-cut chances in the attacking third. On 10 minutes Douglas Camilo found himself through on goal and one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but he pulled his shot just wide: 5 minutes later Douglas again found himself clear down the right: he passed inside to Will Richards whose shot was well blocked and deflected away for a corner.

The first half continued in this vein, Wellington having long periods of possession but not creating any chances and Willand often looking dangerous but the final ball letting them down. It wasn’t until the 34th minute that one of the chances fell to Rover’s Lewis Hill: after a perfectly weighted through ball from Will Richards Hill made no mistake, driving the ball home.

Hill had another chance to extend the lead on 41mins after being played in by Camilo, but his powerful shot was well saved by the Welly keeper.

On 43 minutes Ollie Bray made a rampaging run down the right hand side, driving a fierce low cross into the Wellington penalty area. The ball took a deflection off the centre back and ended up in the Wellington goal. 2-0 and half time.

The Rovers players seemed to tire in the second-half in the hot conditions. Their only shot of significance being in the 65th minute when Hill was played through but shot just wide.

Wellington however, with nothing to lose, started to chase the game and piled pressure onto the Willand defence: on 64 minutes Rovers survived a penalty appeal after a clumsy challenge in the box, on 67 minutes a Wellington attacker was through one-on-one with George Burton but put a tame shot wide of the target. After more Welly pressure George Burton pulled off a great double save in the 74min to keep the score at 2-0.

As the game petered out into overtime both sides looked extremely tired, the heat and the hard pitch conditions affecting all. On 95 minutes, after a mix up in the Rovers defence, the ball ended up in the Rovers goal to give Wellington a consolation. This however was not enough to stop Rovers progressing to the next round.