The Davenham faithful gathered at the Moss Farm arena and were in agreement that they had been really entertained in all of Davenhams five cup matches to date. Weve seen extra time, penalty triumphs and nervy, close encounters. Cup Fever is sizzling in the Davenham camp; would the District Cup 2nd Round be any different?
Davenham entertained Vale Juniors, an established division one team, who had already claimed some big scalps in the U15s season, beating Ellesmere Port Leaders, Vauxhall (6:4), Mid Cheshire Champions, Egerton (7:2) and only last week thumped 14 goals past Grappenhall Davenham knew they were in for a tough match against the free scoring Congleton side (who had scored 39 goals in 7 matches).
The opening ten minutes was very much a cat and mouse affair with both teams sizing each other up and to some degree both defences holding firm. Davenham were working hard to close down the Vale play and it was Whitney who claimed first blood. The Davenham hotshot, valiantly charged down a Vale clearance and agonisingly the block, beat the keeper but spun inches past the post. Davenham sensed that there were goals in the game and 5 minutes later, Kennerley found Hodnett with a defence splitting ball. The Davenham midfielder burst past the last defender only for his thumping shot to be well saved by the Vale stopper.
There were further half chances for both sides, with Kennerley, Wadsworth and Rogerson all going close. At the other end Hill marshalled the defensive line of Burrows, Hill, Drinkwater and Wadsworth well. In fact Gladiator, Hill was in outstanding form himself and won ball after ball, in the air and on the floor alike. Vale did not break down the well-drilled back four but did look to put Davenham under pressure from set-pieces; Wallwork commanded his six yard box well. Then after 30 minutes, Davenham moved from their usual short ball, pass and move game to a long measured ball from Hill over the top, making good use of Kennerleys pace. The Davenham talismanic striker put everything into his run, beating both the defence and the keeper before coolly slotting the ball away. GOAL! 1:0 to the Davenhamers.
Leading 1:0 at half time, Davenham felt that they still had another gear and the gaffer called for improved urgency to be injected into the Davenham game, with the whole team to be quicker to close down the opposition.
Come the second half, Hodnett continued to run Vale ragged down either flank, with his never say die running and competing. Heaword entered the fray and had a deflected shot inches wide. Whitney landed a lofted shot onto the crossbar and Davenham all of a sudden looked to be the dominant side. It was following consistent pressure, that Shaw pounced onto a goalmouth scramble and thumped Davenhams second into the back of the onion bag. 2:0 and Davenham were cruising!
At 2:0, it looked like Davenham, only had to see the game out, however a fortuitous late goal from Vale set up a nervy last five minutes (weve been here before!). Despite throwing everything at Davenham, Vale were unable to bag an equalizer and it was the Goldmen who progressed to yet another quarter final.
Well done Davenham, a really hard fought yet deserved victory, where all 15 players, came together as a team. Hodnett made a good claim for MOTM, but it was Hill who took the accolade for his man mountain performance. From a management point a view, its also pleasing to see how the boys have adapted to 1st division life. Many of the squad have relished the opportunity to further their football at a higher tier and as we saw today, we have players on the bench who not only maintain the momentum of the game, but also bring their own unique qualities to the game well done Davenham, its early days, but as a squad, youve come a long way in 12 months and have been superb so far this season.
Next week, we return to league action with Vale away lets do it again boys!
Assists: Hill
Clean Sheet: Wadsworth
-- Edited by chris wad on Monday 12th of November 2012 10:40:11 AM
