The Yachtsmen were comprehensively beaten by a strong AFC Stoneham side at the Zilch Waste Stadium (Westwood Park) in the 3rd round of the Hampshire Senior Cup on Tuesday evening.
Cowes Sports kicked off with significant changes to their starting line up with Flynn Jackman, Jez Conway, George Carter-Knight and Jared Tout-Walters replacing Jake Wright, Scott McFarlane, John McKie and Charlie Marsek.
The Yachtsmen had surprisingly beaten an unbeaten Stoneham on the road earlier in the season – the Purples only league defeat in the season to date. The away side avenged their defeat with a dominant 1st half display.
The Purples took the lead in the 3rd minute through Orvis with a tidy finish from the edge of the penalty area (0-1).
Nagle then came close to extending the visitors’ lead but was denied by the crossbar.
Stoneham added a 2nd in the 24th minute through a Thomson penalty after Welch had been brought down by Cowes keeper Hatt (0-2).
The Purples went 3 up on the half hour mark with centre forward Pope volleying the ball into the goal after a penalty area scramble (0-3).
The visitors’ 4th came 6 minutes from half time when Nagle beat Hatt in a 1-on-1 (0-4).
The home side’s 1st half chances were few and far between, with Ryan Hughes forcing a good save from Purples’ keeper Lee and George Carter-Knight shooting over the crossbar.
Half time: Cowes Sports 0-4 AFC Stoneham
To their credit, the Yachtsmen rallied in the 2nd half without conceding further goals to their classy opponents but without creating significant chances for themselves.
The 2nd half was significant for Ollie Flood, who made his 1st team debut in the 76th minute.
Full time: Cowes Sports 0-4 AFC Stoneham
Cowes Sports: Hatt, Hughes, Mumford, Chase, Oatley (c), Phillips, Cook, Jackman, Conway, Carter-Knight, Tout-Walters Subs: McKie, McFarlane, Marsek, Salter, Flood Man-of-the-match: Jared Tout-Walters
After the game, co-manager Mark Woodhouse commented:
“It was always going to be a tough game. Stoneham are in a great run of form. They are flying up the table and knocking goals past you for fun. We saw that in the 1st half.
“We tried to match it. We asked the lads to be brave in possession, and that’s what they tried to do. But when you make mistakes against a very, very good side, you get punished.
“We’ll use it as a really good learning experience. We’ll take massive positives from the 2nd half. The boys always tried to keep possession of the ball when they could and didn’t take the easy option of playing it long.
“We’ll build towards a massive game on Saturday (away to Wincanton Town).”
Ian Potts added:
“A special mention to Ollie Flood, who made his debut and did really well and all the other youngsters and some of the lads that came on who have not had much game time of late.
“We gave them a chance tonight, and I’m really pleased with the whole team effort.”
