Vics conceded a goal in the 1st minute against 6th-placed Downton on Saturday and were unable to recover from what manager Richie Woodburn described as “the worst 1st half performance I have ever witnessed from my players”.
With Jamie Wright suspended and Jordan Chapman unavailable, manager Richie Woodburn was still able to field a strong side, with the welcome return of Ollie West. Downton were missing 10 first team regulars, including leading striker Thomas Moseley.
The Robins took the lead in the 1st minute when Shaun Prentice got to the byline and whipped in a cross which fell to Cameron Butler to fire home from 3 yards (0-1).
Vics were temporarily reduced to 10 men in the 25th minute when Brandon Hayward was sin binned for dissent. 3 minutes later, Downton doubled their lead when James Clark breached the Vics defence and sent a pinpoint cross to Danny Clarke to tap in from 5 yards (0-2).
Vics had neither a shot on or even off target for the whole of the 1st half and had goalkeeper Alex Ram to thank for not being further behind. Alex pulled off 6 crucial saves in the 4th, 13th, 21st, 31st, 38th and 39th minutes to prevent Vics from trailing by a cricket score at the interval
HT: East Cowes Vics 0-2 Downton
Manager Richard Woodburn left the pitch in a dark mood and vented his spleen on his team during the half time interval. Whatever he said seemed to have had the desired effect as Vics came close to pulling a goal back a minute after half time when Ryan Gregory had a shot cleared off the line by Sam Moss.
A minute later, a mistake by Kade Woodford let in Downton’s Shaun Prentice, who tucked the ball past Alex Ram (0-3). The Robins were again in total control, and efforts from Butler, Laptus and a 2-yard miss from Clark could and should have put the game way beyond reach of the home side. However, in the 64th minute Liam Newbold scored a superb individual goal after he found himself one-on-one with Downton keeper Matt Fredericks: his first effort was parried, but he raced to collect the rebound, which he sent past the keeper form an acute angle at the near post (1-3).
Vics were now back in the game. In the 71st minute, a Ryan Gregory free kick from the edge of the box was parried by Fredericks, the ball falling to Brandon Hayward, who smashed the rebound into the net. However, the goal was disallowed for offside.
Vics’ revival came to end when Harry Catania was sin binned in the 76th minute and – now reduced to 10 men – weary Vics legs got even wearier. The Robins finished the game on a high with two late strikes from Sam Howe in the 89th minute (1-4) and the 93rd minute (1-5).
FT: East Cowes Vics 1-5 Downton
East Cowes Vics: Ram, C. Turner (Berry), White, Newbold, West, Hayward (Marsek), Catania, Snow, Burton (Southcott), Gregory, Woodford Unused Sub: J. Turner
After the game, Robins manager Ben Smith said:
“Our strong performance was a reaction to our conceding 8 goals in our previous 2 games (0-4 against Wootton Bassett and 4-4 against Infinity). We could have done even better had we not had 10 1st teamers out.”
For Vics, manager Richie Woodburn said:
“We cut our own throats by making 2 simple mistakes in the 1st 30 seconds of the game.”
Richie was also aggrieved by what he perceives as bias by match officials against Vics. He said:
“In the season so far, we have had 14 players sin-binned but none against us.”
Vics’ defeat leaves them in 17th place in Wessex League 1 with 10 points from 13 games. On Tuesday (3rd November), Vics travel across the Solent to face Totton & Eling, who lie 1 place above them in the league table. Kick-off is at 20.00.
Wessex League Premier Division: Cowes Sports 0-9 Horndean
A goal every 10 minutes saw an injury-hit Cowes Sports side capitulate 0-9 to 2nd-place Horndean in only their 2nd Wessex League defeat of the season at Westwood Park.
The Yachtsmen were forced to make 3 changes to the side that drew 2-2 with Fareham Town on Tuesday due to injuries with Darren Williams (knee), Scott McFarlane (groin) and James Wykes (hamstring). Max Coshell, Ashley Brett and George Holmes were drafted into the side as replacements.
Cowes conceded their 1st goal on 17 minutes when a cross from the left picked out Liam Kimber, who fired past Ed Hatt from an angle (0-1). In the 26th minute, Zak Willett cut inside Jimmy Mumford before smacking the ball into the net (0-2). Gareth Bricknell then limped off with a hamstring injury to be replaced by Jack Barsdell. In the 39th minute, a miskick by Jimmy Mumford was pounced on by Zak Willett who buried his shot in the back of the Cowes goal to give the visitors a comfortable 3 goal lead at half time (0-3).
HT: Cowes Sports 0-3 Horndean
Things went from bad to worse in a poor 2nd half display that saw Cowes concede 6 goals. In the 53rd minute, a poor attempted clearance from Callum Chase gifted the ball to Connor Duffin, who blasted the ball past Hatt (0-4). Zak Willett then headed home his hat trick on the hour mark and was immediately substituted (0-5). In the 64th minute, substitute Harry Johnson ran unchallenged from close to the halfway line before scoring (0-6). Tommy Tierney then saw his shot cannon off the post before a second goal for Harry Johnson made it seven for the away side (0-7). The Deans scored an 8th when Connor Duffin blasted home after a shot rebounded off the post (0-8). Finally, Ben Anderson added his name to the list of scorers with a 25-yard strike that went in off the underside of the crossbar, before the referee mercifully brought proceedings to a close without adding any stoppage time (0-9)
FT: Cowes Sports 0-9 Horndean
Cowes Sports: Hatt, Coshell, Mumford, Watson, Chase (c), Conway, Holmes, Brett (Perrin), Bricknell (Barsdell), Coode (Elliot), Nash Unused Sub: Linington g/k
After the game, Cowes Sports FC made the following statement on their Facebook page:
“Thank you to the lads that came in today and worked their backsides off against a top-quality team. Also, to remind people of the players that are injured, and remember that 19 points in October is the most since the 2005 season. That’s some achievement for a small squad.”
The Yachtsmen’s defeat leaves them in the bottom half of the Wessex Premier for the 1st time this season, in 13th place with 19 points from 15 games.
Wessex League 1: Ash United 0-3 Newport IoW
Free-scoring Newport secured their 6th away win of the season so far by beating North Hampshire side Ash United. The goals for the Port came courtesy of a brace from Joe Craig and a single goal for Connor Kelly.
The Port are now 2nd in Wessex League 1, with 31 points from 13 games and trail leaders Bemerton Heath Harlequins on goal difference. Newport have scored 45 goals in the season to date at an average of 3.46 goals per game.
On Wednesday (3rd November) the Port face 14th-placed Infinity at Beatrice Avenue, East Cowes. Kick-off is at 19.45. A full report will appear in Island Echo.
With thanks to Russ Chapman (Beatrice Avenue) and John Linington (Westwood Park) for their help in compiling match reports.
