It's time to catch up with my look at the 2011-12 FA Cup competition with the latest match summaries from the First and Second rounds proper.
Those of you who have been following this from the start will know that back in the Summer I started to follow this season's FA Cup with Falmouth Town (still the only team from Cornwall ever to progress to the First Round proper of the FA Cup).
The baton was passed from Falmouth Town AFC to Bodmin Town to Godalming Town and we pick up the story with Maidenhead United.
The simple notion here is that eventually one club will get to Wembley and you'll be able to look right back to the start of the Competition to see where it all started.
You can see links to the match reports from the previous rounds at the end of this article.
As the games have got bigger video footage has become more readily available with highlights available of all three of the latest games in the Falmouth to Wembley chain.
FA Cup First Round
Saturday 12th November 2011
Maidenhead United 1-1 Aldershot Town
Uploaded on YouTube by thefacup on 13 Nov 2011
Goalscorers: Anthony Thomas (on 7 minutes) for Maidenhead and second half substitute Michael Rankine (on 78 minutes) equalised for the visitors.
Match played at: York Road
Attendance: 2,248
Maidenhead United team: Sam Beasant, Leigh Henry, Leon Solomon, Bobby Behzadi, John Scarborough, Martel Powell, Will Hendry (Andrew Fagan, 64), Daniel Brown, Reece Tison-Lascaris (Manny Williams, 59), Ashan Holgate, Anthony Thomas (Alex Wall, 80)
Aldershot Town team: Jamie Young, Aaron Brown, Anthony Straker, Peter Vincenti (Michael Rankine, 46), Ben Herd, Darren Jones, Jamie Collins, Jermaine McGlashan (Bradley Bubb, 75), Luke Guttridge, Scott Davies (Alex Rodman, 46), Danny Hylton
Dean Holdsworth (Aldershot Town manager) was quoted after the match saying: “This was always a potential banana skin and you never want to be that victim. Non-league football is all about big hearts and desire and Maidenhead showed that. We've had to work for our result. We knew Maidenhead would frustrate us and get 10 men behind the ball, and that's what they did. We had to earn the right to be in the hat and in the end it was a great response from the two subs at half time. We’ll bring them back to our place and I think it works out well for Maidenhead and I think they were pleased with that."
Interesting facts: York Road, the home of Maidenhead United, hosted one of the first FA Cup ties 140 years ago in 1872. Maidenhead United are managed by former Aldershot striker Johnson Hippolyte.
References
Guardian Match Facts
Holdsworth relief at Shots' second chance by Jon Couch
November 14, 2011 on the website Get Hampshire
FA Cup First Round Replay
Tuesday 22nd November 2011
Aldershot Town 2-0 Maidenhead United
Uploaded on YouTube by thefacup on 24 Nov 2011
Goalscorers: Alex Rodman (on 15 minutes) and Luke Guttridge (on 34 minutes)
Match played at: The Recreation Ground
Attendance: 2,181
Maidenhead United team: Sam Beasant, Bobby Behzadi, Martel Powell, John Scarborough, Nevin Saroya (Devante McKain, 63), Daniel Brown, Leon Solomon, Will Hendry, Anthony Thomas (Manny Williams, 58), Ashan Holgate, Reis Stanislaus (Alex Wall, 66)
Aldershot Town team: Jamie Young, Ben Herd, Darren Jones, Aaron Morris, Anthony Straker, Alex Rodman, Scott Davies, Jamie Collins, Jermaine McGlashan (Adam Mekki, 65), Luke Guttridge (Peter Vincenti, 82), Michael Rankine (Danny Hylton, 65)
Next up in the FA Cup for Aldershot Town: Sheffield Wednesday (away)
Ben Herd (Aldershot Town captain) was quoted as saying after the match: "It's never easy against a Non-League team, you’re on a hiding to nothing because you are expected to win. The early goal settled the nerves, they dropped off and the difference between full-time and part-time football showed in the end. We made them work to get the ball, a bit like Manchester United did to us, we picked them off at times. It’s a bit mundane at time but we kept the ball well and bossed the game from start to finish, and never really felt in any danger of losing them game or letting them back into it. It was a job well done.”
Interesting fact: The Recreation Ground is currently known as the EBB Stadium.
References
Guardian Match Facts
Aldershot Town 2 Maidenhead United 0 by Jon Couch
November 24, 2011 on the website Get Hampshire
FA Cup Second Round
Saturday 3rd December 2011
Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Aldershot Town
Uploaded on YouTube by thefacup on 4 Dec 2011
Goalscorer: Ryan Lowe (on 39 minutes)
Match played at: Hillsborough
Attendance: 10,162
Sheffield Wednesday team: Richard O'Donnell, James Tavernier, Reda Johnson, Rob Jones, Josè Semedo, Julian Bennett, Chris Sedgwick (Jermaine Johnson, 86), Chris Lines, Ryan Lowe (Clinton Morrison, 80), Chris O'Grady, Liam Palmer (David Prutton, 87)
Aldershot Town team: Jamie Young, Ben Herd, Aaron Morris, Anthony Straker, Darren Jones, Alex Rodman (Jermaine McGlashan, 77), Adam Smith, Jamie Collins (Scott Davies, 81), Luke Guttridge, Danny Hylton, Michael Rankine (Greg Pearson, 77)
Next up in the FA Cup for Sheffield Wednesday: West Ham United (home) on Sunday January 8th, kick-off 3PM.
Dean Holdsworth (Aldershot Town manager) was quoted after the match saying: “We've been on a long journey and we always said it would come down to defining moments in a game. We've worked very hard and got ourselves into the position to win the game and in the end it's a lapse in concentration and a moment of real quality which has cost us. I can't fault the players, they gave everything. I thought they were excellent in the first half and in the second half we gave it a real go. In the end, two saves by their keeper from Adam Smith and Jermaine [McGlashan] showed the fine line. We're just getting punished for losses in concentration at the moment.”
Interesting fact: Hillsborough is the 10th largest domestic stadium in the country.
References
Guardian Match Facts
Cup dream over for brave Shots by Jon Couch December 06, 2011 on the website Get Hampshire
Previous Rounds
You can read the match report from the Extra Preliminary Qualifying Round by clicking here ==> From Falmouth To Wembley: Falmouth Town AFC
and the match report from the Preliminary Qualifying Round can be found by clicking here ==> From Falmouth To Wembley: Bodmin Town FC
and the match report from the First Qualifying Round can be found by clicking here ==> From Falmouth To Wembley: Bodmin Town The Journey Continues In To Uncharted Territory
and the match reports from the Second Qualifying Round can be found by clicking here ==> From Falmouth To Wembley: Bodmin Town – The Giant Killing Continues As The First Round Proper Gets Tantalisingly Close
and the match reports from the Third Qualifying Round can be found by clicking here ==> From Falmouth To Wembley: Bodmin Town Pass The Baton To Godalming Town After A Replay
and the match report from the Fourth Qualifying Round can be found by clicking here ==> From Falmouth To Wembley: Give Me Five! The Gs Lose Heavily At Home To The Magpies
BlueThruAndThru
