Cowes Sports overcame a spirited West Wight side at Beatrice Avenue yesterday evening (Wednesday) to book a place in the Gold Cup final against old rivals Newport.
To some extent, this was a battle between Cowes and Cowes Old Boys, with West Wight captain Ash Brett, centre forward Gareth Bricknell, Chris Elliott and the Dye brothers all having previously appeared for the Yachtsmen.
Unfortunately, Cowes Sports were without captain and prolific scorer John McKie. Jez Conway was given the No 9 shirt.
Island League Division 1 side West Wight put up a good performance against their Wessex Premier opponents, matching Cowes in the 1st half and possibly edging the Yachtsmen in the 2nd. However, it was Cowes that the showed composure required in front of goal to win the tie.
Little happened in the 1st half until the half hour mark when Harrison Dempsey set up Eli Ahmed to score from a tight angle (1-0).
Half time: Cowes Sports 1-0 West Wight
West Wight returned to the pitch determined to claw back the 1-goal deficit. On the hour mark, captain Ash Brett had a left foot volley stopped by Cowes keeper Hatt.
5 minutes before the full time whistle, Brett had a further opportunity to equalise but sent his header over the crossbar.
However the final minutes of the game belonged to the Yachtsmen with Jimmy Mumford and Fin Fillips sending shots flashing across the goal.
Cowes’ 2nd goal came very late in the game when substitute Connor Furmidge headed in a Max Coshell cross (2-0).
Final score: Cowes Sports 2-0 West Wight
Cowes Sports: Hatt, Dempsey, Whittle, Perrin, O.West, McFarlane, Phillips, Catania, Conway, Neale, Ahmed Subs: Coshell, Bunday (gk), Furmidge, Mumford, Wetherick
West Wight: Young, Herbert, Elliott, McFarlane, Brett, Merrett, T. Dye, Tyrell, Bricknell, H. Dye, Thomas Subs: Saunders, Phillips, Burgess, Daley, Carey.
After the game, West Wight captain Ash Brett said:
“We’re gutted about the result tonight of course, but we can hold our heads high as we more than matched Cowes, particularly in the 2nd half.
“Our keeper hasn’t had a save to make whereas Ed Hatt was their best player, making a couple of great saves.
“Their 2nd goal was cruel on us at the end but all the best to them in the final against a very strong Newport team.”
When asked about his teams prospects for the forthcoming final against Newport, Cowes manager Max Draper said:
“Broughie has done a great job with Newport, who have shown consistency over 2 seasons.
“However, we are a young side who are learning every day.
“We’ll do our best to get the job done.”
In Isle of Wight Division 1 …
Whitecroft & Barton have reduced Shanklin’s lead at the top-of-the-table to just 1 point by narrowly beating ECS 2-1 at Sandy Lane, courtesy of goals from Joe Rayner and Barry Calvert. Shanklin were held to a goalless draw at the County Ground by Brading. Both W&B and Shanklin have 2 league games left to play.
At the bottom of the table, 2nd-from-bottom Sandown & Lake have failed to close the 6-point gap between themselves and 3rd-from-bottom Oakfield after going down 2-3 to Binstead & COB. Sandown have 3 further league games this season.
Isle of Wight results for Wednesday 26th April
The Harwoods Dacia Senior (Gold) Cup – Semi Final
Cowes Sports v West Wight
Harwoods Renault Division 1:
Sandown & Lake 2-3 Binstead & COB
Shanklin 0-0 Brading Town
Whitecroft & Barton Sports 2-1 ECS
Combination 1:
Northwood St Johns 5-1 Bembridge
