Darren Lawrence says the result was more important than the performance after Jewdinese booked their place in round two of the League Cup following a hard-fought win over Division One rivals Hertswood Vale.
October 15, 2019 22:23
CYRIL ANEKSTEIN CUP ROUND ONE
JEWDINESE 3 HERTSWOOD VALE 1
'Nese got off to a good start and looked to put Vale on the back foot from the start. They eventually found the breakthrough when James Ross glided past a coupe of challenges before playing the ball through to Zack Collins, who squared the ball for an easy finish for Zac Brin.
However, the Zebras took their foot off the gas and Vale equalised from a Josh Gorb corner after some poor marking, which allowed top-scorer James Millet to head home.
'Nese regained our lead moments later after an excellent one-two from Zack Collins and Brin saw the former square for Scott Oldstein whose first touch set the ball up nicely and his second touch was a sweetly struck right footed volley into the top corner.
The hosts then had their captain and goalkeeper to thank that they went into half-time with the lead. Another delightful ball in by Gorb, found Charlie Becker whose looping header was heading for the postage stamp. Cue Jewdinese keeper Ben Halmer, who somehow managed to scramble back and get the faintest of finger-tips on the ball, tipping it onto the post. The ball fell to Harry Graham who had a completely open goal to aim at. He struck the ball towards goal but Adam Gold made a truly sensational flying block to keep 'Nese's lead intact.
The rain came down heavily throughout the whole second half, and with high winds too it made for difficult conditions. Gold along with Brad Dryer marshalled the 'Nese defence well and Halmer was pretty much untroubled for the half.
Halmer came to the rescue again early in the second half, saving from point-blank range to deny Justin Mullem after a corner into the box lead to a goal-mouth scramble.
'Nese then sent on Sam Stern with 25 minutes to go and killed the game off just five minutes later after he tapped home from another Collins assist.
Victorious boss Darren Lawrence told JC Sport: "We’re in the hat for the next round which is the most important thing. We dominated the second half but failed to score from some good opportunities.
"I know there is still so much more for us to give and am hoping that a run of consecutive games can give us the momentum we need.
"We look forward to kickstarting another cup run next week, where we will have a tough test against Maccabi London Blue.”
Vale joint-manager Jacob Emanuel told JC Sport: "Today was a really frustrating game, party because of the awful weather in the second half.
"Jewdinese are a really good team, and they play an excellent passing game, but we more than matched them throughout, and Danny and I feel that on another day, the result would’ve been very different.
"They took their chances really well, and that’s the most important thing at this level, but we can’t help think what may have been had it not been for an outstanding display from their man between the sticks."