Island League West Wight overcame Wessex League East Cowes Vics in a dramatic Wednesday evening of football action at Camp Road.
This was a classic game of youth versus experience played in a torrential downpour with plenty of twists and turns towards the end of the game.
Under new manager Alex Smith, Vics have placed their faith in youth and have climbed out of the Division 1 relegation positions with some impressive results. The West Wight side included former Wessex League players captain Ash Brett and forward Gareth Bricknell.
Conventional wisdom held that West Wight would tire in the 2nd half, allowing Vics to take advantage of their perceived superior fitness; however, West Wight more than held their own throughout the game.
The Camp Road pitch appeared in pristine condition, but rain throughout the day had left the surface slippery. The conditions led to numerous potentially dangerous tackles from both sides, although few had malicious intent.
The game began with bookings for Callum Chase and Harrison Berry for Vics as well as Louis Thomas for West Wight. Vics had a good penalty appeal in the 25th minute when Harrison Yates was bundled over.
In the 26th minute, East Cowes Vics’ Adam Voller saw a low shot go inches past the left post. In the 34th minute, Gareth Bricknell forced a good save from Vics keeper Alex Ram.
In the final action of the 1st half, Charlie Marsek sent an Adam Voller cross flying over the West Wight crossbar.
Half time: West Wight 0-0 East Cowes Vics
Whereas the 1st half had been an even affair, West Wight took control of the game in the 2nd half. Again, the slippery conditions led to mistimed tackles with West Wight’s Charlie McFarlane and Gareth Bricknell both finding their way into the referee’s notebook.
The home side had the lion’s share of 2nd half chances. In the 55th minute, Harry Dye had a shot parried by Ram. In the 63rd minute, Ash Brett just failed to connect with a pass from Bricknell in a promising position. In the 66th minute, George Sanders somehow managed to hoof the ball over the Vics crossbar when it would have appeared easier to score.
Vics appeared to have won the game in the 80th minute when Harrison Taylor sent a trademark free kick into the top left corner of the West Wight goal (0-1).
However, with just 2 minutes of full time remaining, Gareth Bricknell was 1st to a corner, sending a flick into the far corner of the Vics net (1-1).
Full time: West Wight 1-1 East Cowes Vics
And so, to penalties. 9 out of 10 were scored with the sole miss coming from Vics’ Harrison Berry. Si Merrett buried West Wight’s 5th and final penalty.
Penalties: West Wight 5-4 East Cowes Vics
West Wight: Monk, Herbert, Elliott, McFarlane, Brett, Merrett, H.Dye, T. Dye, Sanders, Bricknell, Thomas Subs: Harris, Phillips, Tyrell, More, Carey
East Cowes Vics: Ram, Snow, White, Chase, Berry, Taylor, Lyon, Yates, Cant, Voller, Marsek Subs: Radford, West, Woodford, Parsons, Ashley
After the game, West Wight manager Johnny Holmes said:
“We deserved it. We played with the intensity we needed from start to finish and did not give Vics time on the ball.
“We don’t often get nights like this at Camp Road.”
Winning West Wight captain Ash Brett told Island Echo:
“I’m so proud of the boys. We left everything out there tonight, and we certainly deserved the win.
“We had the better chances and when they scored the free kick, it would’ve been easy for heads to drop, but we still believed and got the equaliser from a lovely flick from Brickers.
“Going into the penalties, I was awfully confident, especially with the incredible crowd behind us.
“It was a fantastic night for the club and an incredible day for the underdog. We look forward to playing an excellent Newport team in the semis.”
Vics manager Alex Smith was gracious in defeat, saying:
“Credit to West Wight. They deserved to win. I’m not going to blame the pitch or the ref.
“They have a very strong spine with Ash Brett in defence, the Dye brothers in midfield and Gareth Bricknell up front.
“West Wight are the opposite to us. They have experience, whereas we have youth.
“Their composure counted towards the end of the game.”
In the other Gold Cup game played on Tuesday evening, Cowes Sports overcame Binstead & COB thanks to an own goal followed by a Connor Furmidge strike.
Binstead goalkeeper Tom McInnes put on a man-of-the-match performance to prevent his side from going down by a wider margin of defeat.
The 4 teams through to the Isle of Wight Senior (Gold) Cup semi-finals are: Wessex Premier League Cowes Sports, Wessex Division 1 Newport, Isle of Wight champions Shanklin and Isle of Wight Division 1 side West Wight.
The Isle of Wight FA website suggests the semi finals are
Cowes v West Wight
Newport v Shanklin.
They will of course be played on neutral grounds.
Last night, West Wight believed they had Newport in the semi final. I don’t know where this idea came from.