COWES Sports sailed through to the semi-finals of the Isle of Wight Senior (Gold) Cup after sweeping plucky West Wight aside under the lights this evening (Tuesday, November 26).
COWES SPORTS 5, WEST WIGHT 1
The result was not a flattering one for the Yachtsmen, of the Wessex Premier, against their Island League Division 1 opponents.
The cup holders dominated the early possession, with West Wight trying to absorb the pressure as they came at the visitors with wave after wave of attacks.
Jimmy Mumford picked up the ball high on the left, cut inside and smashed the ball a yard or so over the crossbar after ten minutes.
Cowes were getting it into wide areas comfortably and looked a constant threat.
But after 16 minutes, the majority of the good-sized midweek crowd went silent as West Wight scored the opening goal — a header direct from a corner.
Two minutes later, Callum Chase, saw his awkward header drift just over.
Cowes didn’t have to wait long to draw level — George Carter-Knight drilling his shot in from ten yards out in the 25th minute.
When Mumford crossed low for Scott McFarlane two minutes later, the Cowes crowd expected a rapid turnaround, but he mistimed his lunge and the keeper was able to collect easily.
Despite their total dominance for the rest of the half, West Wight stood firm to keep it level at the break and still very much in the quarter-final tie.
The visitors, in yellow, came out the brighter of the two sides — and should’ve taken the lead in the 50th minute, an effort skyed over the bar from eight yards out.
West Wight came to rue that mistake in the 68th minute when Ryan Oatley popped up with a bullet header, direct from a corner, to put Cowes in front.
Mumford extended the blues’ lead to 3-1 in the 81st minute — cutting in from the left and unleashing a piledriver into the top corner.
West Wight heads started to drop after all their hard work and, within five minutes of the goal, Cowes made the tie safe with another Carter-Knight effort — dribbling unopposed into the box before beautifully finishing.
And on the counter-attack from a West Wight corner, John McKie picked up the ball, surged forward and played the ball to the unmarked Jez Conway, who slotted in the corner for 5-1 in the 90th minute.
As an act of mercy for West Wight, the referee blew up for full time not long afterwards.
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