Cove 0 v 1 Fleet Spurs

Saturday 31st August 2019
FA Vase 1st Round Qualifying
Oak Farm, Farnborough
Admission: £5.00
Programme: None
Attendance: 50 (estimate)

This weekend saw the opening fixtures in this season's FA Vase competition, and normally I like to choose games in FA competitions between clubs from different leagues. That was not the case with this game, as they both ply their trade in the Combined Counties League Division One, and today's fixture would be an exact repeat of last season's encounter at the same stage of the competition, with Fleet Spurs winning 0-2 on that occasion. Perhaps the clinching factor for me in choosing this game was the opportunity to complete the Combined Counties League.

Oak Farm is about a 25 minute walk westwards from Farnborough North train station, passing by Farnborough Main station about half way, and a narrow lane leads visitors to the ground's car park, and then the turnstile block, along one length. To the left of the entrance, the clubhouse is set some way back from the pitch, separated by gravel, and immediately in front of the clubhouse, which is bright with a modern decor inside, there is a patio area and some picnic tables. To one side of the clubhouse, there is a tea bar window selling a good range of hot and cold food and drinks. There is just hard standing along the rest of this length and behind both goals, whilst along the other length, a black modern metallic stand straddles the half way line, and either side there are more traditional and rustic stands covering flat standing areas. Unfortunately there was no programme - of the printed or electronic varieties - produced for this fixture.

It was initially announced by the FA that Cove would be relegated from the Combined Counties League to Step 7 football, after a bottom placed finish in Division One last season. However, they were eventually successful in their appeal and were reprieved.  They had a reasonable start to this season, drawing their first game and winning their second away from home, but then lost both games over the Bank Holiday weekend, including a 0-7 home defeat against Farnham Town. Fleet Spurs finished one place, but six points, above Cove last season, but they have had a very good start to this season, winning their opening three league games, and although they lost their last game to Jersey Bulls 4-0 away, the Channel Islanders will most likely be the dominant force in the division this season.

On a mainly overcast afternoon, with the odd sunny spell but with heavy drizzle falling around half time, this was not a game that will live very long in the memory in all honesty, particularly the first half. The visitors had two decent chances - on 25 minutes, the ball was fizzed in from he left but the forward couldn't quite make contact as he tried to acrobatically volley home, and on 38 minutes, a corner was headed towards goal, and although the keeper saved it, he juggled the ball but, fortunately for him, the ball stayed out. Then on 41 minutes, Cove were reduced to ten men, their number 9 shown a second yellow card, the first for a two footed lunge that could easily have been a straight red card, the second for retaliation after he was on the receiving end of a foul. Half time arrived with the scoreline still goalless, but Cove would now have to play the whole of the second half a man down.

And indeed, it was Fleet Spurs who would go on to dominate the second half, spending most of the time camped in the attacking half, but the final ball too often was not good enough, combined with some good defending by Cove, who seemed content to soak up pressure. The visitors did have a couple of decent chances, as though did Cove, but just as it looked certain that this tie would head into extra time, Fleet Spurs scored the winner in the 89th minute, when a corner was stabbed in at the far post by Naman Nasir, to seal their progress into the next round, where they will travel to play Milton Keynes Robins, of the Spartan South Midlands League Division One, and who received a bye in this round.

Video highlights of this match can be viewed by clicking here.