Felixstowe & Walton United FC

DEREHAM TOWN  2  -  0  FELIXSTOWE & WALTON UNITED 

Seasiders fall at the first hurdle in the Emirates FA Cup

Felixstowe & Walton United exited the Emirates FA Cup at the preliminary round stage in disappointing fashion at former Isthmian North side Dereham Town. Two first half goals were enough for the home side to take their place in Mondays first round draw, with the Seasiders unable to stamp their authority against a club they had completed a league double over last season.

The Seasiders went into the game with key personnel missing, injuries, work commitments and unavailability led to Ollie Canfer, Henry Barley, Noel Aitkens, Callum Bennett and Leon Ottley-Gooch all missing the trip to Norfolk, forcing an unusual, albeit fairly strong looking starting line-up. A lack of options was evident on the bench with Lamell Howell and Armani Schaar, both returning from injury and illness the only two recognised faces, with U23 players Noah Harewood and Meshack O’Connor taking their opportunity of a callup to assist the first team.

A regular complaint received is that my match reports are “too positive”, I make no excuses for that, I simply state the facts and give my own objective view on the matches. I am a naturally positive person, and let’s be frank, we’ve just all witnessed the best season in the club’s history so there’s been plenty to be positive about! However, it would be fair to say that Felixstowe definitely had a rare off day on the pitch, struggling to create chances and break down a well organised defence, whilst finding one particular player, Valter Rocha, almost unplayable at times. Anyone who had read Dereham’s match reports from their opening three games will be aware of the dangers that he was going to pose, and so it proved. A summer of upheaval with a change of league, change of manager and loss of several key players, all amongst some internal squabbling in the club had led to a late influx of players to the squad and Rocha had given the new manager a boost with his goals and input so far, scoring from the half way line and again from long distance already this season. From the first minute it was obvious he as going to cause problems defensively all afternoon, his constant running, turns, and the way he laid the ball off to others was impressive, although it would be fair to say he also needs to work on his finishing, evident in the 4th minute when a ball over the top found the number nine in what looked like an offside position, but with the flag staying down the striker sprinted forward clear on goal only to see his attempt at lobbing Callum Robinson fail and Robbo easily catching the misjudged effort. Rocha again found himself in a good position a minute later, this time side footing well wide from inside the box. Robinson did well to tip a low, long-range drive round the post in the 10^th minute. Felixstowe were trying to play their usual passing game but were finding the combination of a well-drilled defence, fast forwards looking to pounce on every lost ball and the strong wind a real issue, this was evident in the 19^th minute when the home side took the lead, a Felixstowe ball forward being held up in the wind and the ball coming out to Rocha who battled his way past Milo Grimes to send in a perfect cross for Ryan Swift to simply finish from 16 yards into the bottom corner. Harry Blackburn was making his league debut for the Seasiders and his 25-yard effort on 28 minutes flew inches over the bar for a rare goalscoring opportunity in a first half that continued to frustrate. On 33 minutes it was two nil to the home side and it was another disappointing goal to concede, a Felixstowe attack breaking down and the ball lost in the centre of the pitch, allowing Mo Hassan to break forward and beat Robinson from a tight angle at the near post. Without wishing to make excuses, the strong wind was making it very difficult for Felixstowe, hampering every ball forward as they tried to bypass a bus-like defence, that led to a lack of movement up front and some promising build up play petering out way too often with the home side happy to sit back and let it happen, knowing the increasingly obvious frustrations on the pitch were also impacting any chance of a comeback for the away side.

The second half started with Felixstowe looking much brighter and enjoying a wind-free opportunity to start to control the game, for long periods of the half that is what they achieved, dominant in possession but again restricted by a defence that made creating decent chances a rarity and a home attack only too willing to pounce on any lost ball, of which there were plenty! To break forward and try to put the game to bed. Josh Hitter did well to create space on the right and from an impossible angle struck the foot of the near post in the 47^th minute. Rocha, with his brother Carlos now also on the pitch, tried one of his trademark long distance efforts on 53 minutes, his 45-yard shot sailing narrowly over the bar. The rest of the half was spent with Felixstowe seeing most of the possession but struggling to create anything of note, only an 88^th minute Zak Brown shot that the goalkeeper did well to save caused an issue for the home side who again were happy to sit back and lap up ball after ball coming their way. Dereham were themselves hampered by the strong easterly wind and they were limited to occasional breaks forward, with the best chance falling to that man again! Rocha wildly lashing the ball wide when in a great position inside the area. Felixstowe’s best move and chance of the game came as the clocked ticked into injury time, Tom Maycock doing superbly on the right to beat two men and send in a beautiful cross that Armani Schaar got on the end of at the six-yard line but his poke towards goal was again well saved.

Seasiders Assistant Manager Andy Crump spoke after the game. “Today was as frustrating as days in football get. We didn’t give a good enough account of ourselves and let Dereham control large spells of the game without ever imposing enough of a threat on their goal. As a group we were disappointed with our overall levels of performance, especially given the opportunity the FA Cup gives you to create great memories. Credit to Dereham and we wish them the best for the next round. We now focus on two great opportunities to get back on track next weekend”.

Report by Stuart Daynes

Photos by Tom Bradford

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