For The fourth time in five home games Ware conceded three goals and now face a long midweek journey to north Norfolk to determine who goes through to the next round of the FA Cup.
The home side will think it should be them without the need for a replay. It certainly seemed to supporters that the Blues had more of the play, more chances and scored the three best goals. Fakenham may have a different view but there is no doubt that some slack defending by the home side allowed the visitors to stay in contact.
It may all prove irrelevant in the replay with the long distance requiring players to give up an afternoon’s work for the journey northwards. There is some hope that Fred Burbidge will be deemed fit enough for the game though Zack Braverman will also travel.
The stand-in keeper, a hero seven days before in the penalty shootout against Brightlingsea could have done better with two of the goals. Early on he failed to gather a shot and the loose ball fell to Jake Watts who scored with ease.
The game was just five minutes old at this point but even so Watts’ goal wasn’t the opener. Reece Beckles-Richards had scored two minutes before when he turned in the area to blast home. Little did we know that the quick exchange of goals was going to be a feature of the game; twice more in fact as Ware failed to put clear blue water between them and their opponents.
They were ahead again on forty minutes when Sam Mayuma shot low through a crowd of players but Fakenham equalised in the dying moments of the half. Lewis Bonner’s shot exploited Braverman’s positioning to find the far corner of the net and send the teams in level at half time.
There was an expectation that, kicking towards the home end in the second half, Ware would pull clear but they made a slow start. Instead, Fakenham started the better and had their best moments of the game after the break as the home side struggled to find any rhythm.
They found it eventually and started to mount some probing attacks. With the sixty minute mark approaching it was from one of these attacks, launched by Khale Da Costa’s cross with his first touch of the game, that the ball came back to Finlay Titchmarsh. It was the kind of opportunity that defenders, lurking on the edge of the penalty area, doubtless always hope for.
Looking as though he knew this was his moment, Titchmarsh hit the ball first time. A rising shot flew past defenders and attackers alike and left Fakenham keeper Luke Pearson, who had a good game in command of his area, for once clutching at thin air.
It was the goal of the game, something which suggested Ware now had the proceedings by the scruff of the neck. That view however didn’t allow for the quick come back that characterised this game. Quick? Well Fakenham had to wait a whole eight minutes before they got level a third time. Ewan Morahan’s shot looked to be going wide and was in any case covered by Braverman’s dive but it took a deflection off a Ware defender to find the net.
It had become the kind of game where either side might now have snatched the winner but Ware came closest on several occasions, not least when the ball was headed off the line. But whatever Ware tried Pearson was usually there to take control.
As a result, Fakenham will feel the more satisfied. A home replay with a Ware team at the end of a working day and a long journey will probably make them favourites. All will be decided on Tuesday with another penalty shootout a possibility.
Line-ups and cards
Ware: Zack Braverman, Finlay Titchmarsh, David Sota, Herbie Townsend (C) (Gucci Soulya-Osekanongo 75mins), Josh Okotcha (Jack Grosvenor 45mins), Ekow Coker Theo Ofori (Khale Da Costa 56mins), Anthony Wordsworth (Max Granville 81mins), Reece Beckles-Richards (Leon Theodoropoulos 88mins), Rechan Esprit, Sam Mayuma. Unused subs: Leigh Rose, Jack Taylor.
Yellow cards: Ekow Coker 43mins, Khale Da Costa 68mins, Reece Beckles-Richards 81mins.
Fakenham Town: Luke Pearson, Oser Okpiabhele, Lewis Bonner, Mitch Rasberry (C), Dylan Coslett, Jayden Wright, Alfie Doy (Charlie Mayhew 69mins), Finn Whiteley (Jake Poore 81mins), Jake Watts (Kaiden Fialho 93 mins), Marley Reynolds (Lewis Morahan 45+5mins), Luke Allen (Arie Sawyer 23mins). Unused sub: Artur Viscanskis.
Yellow cards: Jake Watts 29mins, Mitch Rasberry 81mins, Oser Okpiabhele 85mins.
