Five-star Wingate into cup semis
London Senior Cup Quarter Final
Wingate & Finchley 5 Redbridge 1
Tuesday, 28 January, 2014
The last time the sides met, Redbridge won 3-0 in 2011 in a cup shock, but Wingate exacted revenge on Tuesday with youngster Jack Read stealing the show coming off the bench to score two late goals.
In only the 12th minute Wingate took the lead. Danny Hart was released down the right wing, and whipped the ball in first time as he narrowly kept the ball in play. Centre-back Tyron Thomas was under pressure in the middle from Adam Bolle and inadvertently rifled the ball beyond his own keeper with a perfectly struck own goal. The visitors were playing well though in an end-to-end game, and Patrick Damali levelled the scores in the 18th minute as he calmly diverted home a free header after patient buildup play.
Just six minutes later though and Wingate regained the lead. Wingate were looking creative, in particular through Ola Williams advancing from left back, but this time it was Ola Sogbanmu who fed in Hart through the centre who toe-poked the ball beyond the keeper.
At the other end Bobby Smith had to be alert to save at his near post from winger Ben Bradbury, but chances were few and far between for the visitors.
Tommy Tejan-Sie had two low shots from the edge of the area which were easily held by keeper David McCartney. The chances kept flowing as Hector Morante saw a header parried away, but he went one better five minutes before the break. Some superb buildup work from Spencer McCall resulted in him feeding through the Spaniard down the left side of the area. He cut inside and slid the ball past the helpless McCartney.
The start was of the second half was played at a slow pace, and the first good chance arrived after 65 minutes as McCall crossed into the area and Bolle headed over.
Wingate were forced into changes through injuries, and Jack Read, Joe Sharpe and Marc Henry were brought on through the half. This brought around a patient pattern of play and these three were responsible for the two goals which eventually followed to seal the convincing win. In the 80th minute Marc Henry saw Read in space between tired Redbridge defenders and picked him out with a low pass. Read showed great composure despite only being on the pitch for a few minutes, and calmly rolled the ball beyond McCartney.
Three minutes later the substitute earned his brace. Joe Sharpe had advanced down the right wing and fired a low cross into the middle. Bolle was at the near post but could not connect, and the ball fell to Read behind him who again found the bottom-left corner with ease.
Wingate & Finchley Lineup:
Smith, Jamison, Williams, Sogbanmu (Henry 46), Weatherstone , Mcgonigle, Hart , McCall, Bolle, Tejan-Sie (Read 70), Morante (Sharpe 74)
Attendance:
49
Referee:
S Purkiss
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