East Cowes Victoria won their 6th successive game with a narrow 1-0 victory over 10-man Cove at Beatrice Avenue this afternoon (Saturday).
This was also Vics’ 3rd successive clean sheet, which maintains the best defensive record in Wessex Division 1.
Vics began the game without 3 stalwarts of the side – Jacob Reynolds, Liam Triggs and Aedan Coode – all of whom were injured in last week’s match against Romsey Town.
The 1st half saw few chances in the opening half-an-hour, with the main talking point the sinbinning of Cove No11 Hampson for dissent, following which he was sent off in the 24th minute for a further yellow card offence.
Vics took the lead just past the half hour mark when Josh Neale turned just outside the 6-yard box before converting a Zac Sullivan free kick with a deflected shot (1-0).
Half time: East Cowes Victoria 1-0 Cove
East Cowes Victoria dominated the 2nd half without adding to their goal tally, although 10-man Cove appeared dangerous in spells.
2 minutes into the 2nd half, Toby Snow prevented the away side from scoring a possible equaliser with a last ditch tackle. In the 49th minute, Scott Jones headed the ball past the left post from a promising position. Then, captain Liam Newbold failed to put a ball that flashed across the face of the Cove goal into the back of the net.
Alex Smith made the first of his substitutions with Caleb Neale replacing Zac Sullivan.
Cove were unlucky not to have levelled the scores when Peters was denied a close-range scoring opportunity by an in-form Fraser Law.
Further substitutions followed for Vics, with Adam Voller coming on for Scott Jones and Kudzi taking the place of Charlie Hart.
3 minutes from full time, Josh Neale hit the ball inches over the crossbar in what proved to be the final chance of the game.
Full time: East Cowes Victoria 1-0 Cove
East Cowes Victoria: Law, Snow, Yates, Newbold, Wheeler, Sullivan (C. Neale), Chapman, Boyd-Kerr, Jones (Voller), Hart (Mazambara), J. Neale (Kirby) Sub (unused): Perrin
Man-of-the-match: Jordan Chapman
After the game, Vics manager Alex Smith said:
“It was a very hard-earned win. It was not a run-of-the-mill game. After going down to 10 men, Cove made it very difficult for us. We had to dig pretty deep.
“There are very rarely easy wins in this league, with the teams being so competitive from top to bottom.”
East Cowes Victoria remain 4th in Wessex Division 1, 11 points behind leaders New Milton Town, but with 3 games in hand.
PHOTOS:
BLACKFIELD & LANGLEY END YACHTSMEN’S 5-GAME WINNING STREAK
Cowes Sports were beaten by the only goal of the game at Gang Warily – their 1st defeat in 6 matches.
The 1st chance for Cowes came in the 10th minute, when centre forward Jordan Browne was unlucky not to have won a penalty when fouled. In the 23rd minute, George Carter-Knight had a volley cleared off the line. Callum Chase then saw his header cannon off the crossbar.
In the 26th minute, Browne had a volley deflected over the crossbar. In the 34th minute, Jackman shot straight at the Blackfield keeper from a promising position.
The first half ended with the home side losing their cool, with 2 of their players yellow carded.
Half time: Blackfield & Langley 0-0 Cowes Sports
The 2nd half began with Blackfield’s first chance of the game, in which their striker hit the ball wide of the post. Charlie Marsek had the opportunity to put Cowes into the lead in the 57th minute but fired a soft shot at the Blackfield keeper.
The home side took the lead in the 70th minute when Dyllan Roocroft blasted the ball into the right corner of Ed Hatt’s goal (1-0).
The Yachtsmen’s final chance came 4 minutes from full time when captain Ryan Oatley had a header deflected wide
Full time: Blackfield & Langley 1-0 Cowes Sports
Cowes Sports: Hatt, Hughes, Mumford, Chase, Oatley (c), Phillips, Cook, Jackman, Browne, Carter-Knight, Marsek Subs: Dempsey, Cranwell, Tout-Walters, Wykes, Flood
After the game, Cowes Sports co-manager Mark Woodhouse said:
“This was one of those games which show how good this league can be. If you’re not on it, you’ll get punished.
“They’re a club who are fighting for their lives. They were tenacious. They sat behind the ball. They made it very difficult for us.”
Defeat leaves Cowes 11th in the Wessex Premier with 29 points from 23 games.
ATOM MEN BEAT PORT IN BERKSHIRE
Newport drifted further from the playoff positions after losing to AFC Aldermaston.
The 1st chance of the game fell for the returning Ji Nash, who had his shot smothered by the Aldermaston keeper in the 21st minute. However, seconds later, Simeon Weekes put the Atom Men into the lead by taking advantage of a defensive error to slot the ball under Port keeper Pitman (1-0).
George Holbrook then had an opportunity for an equalising goal for Newport but headed the ball over the crossbar. On the half hour mark, Jacob Wallace extended the home side’s lead with a 25-yard shot that curled into the corner of the goal (2-0).
Jez Conway pulled a goal back for Port 6 minutes from the half time break from a quickly taken free kick – his 2nd goal for the club since signing from Cowes Sports (2-1).
Half time: AFC Aldermaston 2-1 Newport IW
Padraig Gorman added a 3rd for the Atom Men 10 minutes into the 2nd half when he latched on to a long ball which he slotted under Pitman (3-1).
Port made a couple of substitutions, with Henry West replacing Keelan Walsh and Calen Goldberg coming on for Brad Young but were unable to create further chances and returned to the Island pointless.
Full time: AFC Aldermaston 3-1 Newport IW
Newport IW: Pitman, Grace, Walsh, Thompsett, Watterson (c), Holbrook, Oatley, Young, Conway, Butcher, Nash Subsw: West, Goldberg, Linington, Foster, McDonough
Defeat leaves Port 7th in Wessex Division 1 with 39 points from 25 games, 8 points adrift of Hamworthy United in the 4th playoff position.
