East Cowes Vics travelled to Weymouth Street in Wiltshire last Saturday for their clash with Warminster Town in the first round proper of the FA Vase.
The game was played on a soft pitch that held up well despite the heavy rain that had fallen over the previous few days. Despite the downpour, the crowd of 133 were treated to an action packed cup tie with end-to-end action.
Warminster got off to a flying start, when Charlie Walton opened the scoring after just thirty seconds. Their lead was not to last long as Vics equalised after three minutes, when the Warminster defence made a mess of a looping cross from Joe Butcher which was tapped home by Brandon Haywood.
Both sides created chances, but it was the East Cowes side which kept the lion’s share of the possession in the first half. Vics even came close to taking the lead on the half-hour mark, forcing Warminster man-of-the-match, goalkeeper Nathan Ball, to pull off a superb save to prevent the Island team from going into the half time break with a goal advantage.
HT 1 -1
Warminster Town came out in the second half determined to score. In the 48th minute, a corner was met by Warminster’s Walton, who planted the ball home into the back of the Vics net with a
header to the left-hand corner. Both sides continued to create chances, but it was Warminster who were to score again in the 65th minute from a break-away counter-attack when Jack Miluk tapped home for the Maltmen.
Vics managed a consolation goal in the 88th minute when Joe Butcher, who had been dangerous throughout the game, danced through the Warminster defence before shooting the ball into the back of the net. The East Cowes side continued to press in the closing minutes of the game with even the keeper venturing into the Warminster half, but the Wiltshire team held out for a nervy couple of minutes to win a close-fought encounter 3-2 and bring Vics’ 2019 FA Vase adventure to an abrupt end.
Warminster Town 3 – 2 East Cowes Victoria Athletic
Following the Vics’ exit from the FA Vase, manager Steve Brougham resigned. East Cowes Vics issued the following statement on Tuesday evening:
“We as a club are sad to announce the resignation of first team manager Steve Brougham, Steve has been at the club for 3 seasons and has worked tirelessly to develop our first team squad.
“The club would like to take the opportunity to thank Steve for all his hard work throughout his time at Vics and we all wish him all the very best for the future.
“Vics will be playing away to Alton on Saturday as we continue our campaign in the Sydenham Wessex League.”
Vics currently lie second-from-bottom in Wessex League One, having not won a single league game since the start of the season.
Before taking on the hot seat at Vics, Brougham had successful spells at Newport IW FC (where he achieved a hat trick of Senior Gold Cup victories) and Brading Town.
Island Echo will keep Island football fans informed of further developments at the club as and when they occur.
