Ware’s recent visits to the Meadow at Chesham to meet ground sharers Aylesbury United have not offered much in the way of good luck. Blues have felt a little hard done by as a result. There are no such excuses this time however as the differences between football at Step 2 and Step4 were made stark.
Chesham rarely looked to be extending themselves and played with an assurance that Ware couldn’t match. Early on there was the possibility that Ware were willing to concede territory to bottle up and stifle the home side in the final third.
If so, it didn’t work and whilst Khale Da Costa (one of Ware’s successes on the day) opened up the home defence early on with a cross field ball that almost played Rechan Esprit in on goal there was little else to cheer.
At the other end of the pitch, it seemed that Chesham were being held comfortably at a distance from goal and Karl Oliyide’s shot was well gathered by Fred Burbidge. That changed after 13 minutes when Jayden Bennetts sent a strike from distance that curled perfectly into the top corner of Ware’s net.
Finding such exact placement became something of a feature of Chesham’s shooting through the afternoon though not so much with their next goal. Hisham Kasimu picked up a through ball and took it wide before shooting. Burbidge got a foot to it but Karl Oliyide was on hand to bury the rebound before Jack Grosvenor could intercept.
The final ten minutes of the half saw Ware enjoying more of the game with Da Costa looping a shot over Ben Goode in the home goal but also over the crossbar. Were Chesham easing off? Well, apparently not as within the first minute of the second half they almost had their third goal when Alex Lafleur chipped over the bar from close range.
He made amends five minutes later when a neat one-two with Oliyide allowed him to get close in on goal. No chip this time just a low shot beyond Burbidge and inside the far post.
With the game sewn up and forty minutes still to play it was time for Dubem Eze to take centre stage. We had not seen much of him up to this point but a move from the right, where he had been closed down by David Sota, and over to the left changed all that.
Eze, seven years younger than his more famous cousin, has spells at Norwich City, Derby County and Bolton Wanderers amongst several others on his CV. He clearly has something about him and demonstrated what that may be by scoring a hat trick within seventeen minutes after the hour mark.
Firstly, he collected a rebound close to the by line but out near the edge of the Ware penalty area, brought the ball out towards the edge of the area before catching out the Ware defence to turn and drill a low shot just inside the left post. Next, he brought the ball forward from midfield taking it towards the left, then cut inside and across the edge of the area before shooting low from inside the D to again find the inside of the left post.
Finally, collecting Oliyide’s pass, he struck another shot from almost the same spot and into almost the same part of the Ware goal for his third and his team’s sixth. It had been a good demonstration of power and accuracy.
Not to be out done Wil St Clair made it seven after carrying the ball from just inside the centre line and taking it towards goal. He unleashed his shot from just beyond the D but still inside that left post to complete three very similar goals.
It was a poor day for the visitors but they did avoid a repeat of the six goal deficit they experienced in their only other FA Cup game at Chesham. One of the goals came from Sota in between Eze’s first and second. Sam Mayuma’s cross was nodded back to him by Josh Hutchinson. Goode got something on the shot but not enough to keep it out.
Ware’s other score came from Da Costa who converted Gucci Soulya’s cross. Soulya had made a difference since coming on and had out manoeuvred Aaron Lacey on the byline after he chased down Gabe Ward’s long ball forward. Once again Goode got his hand to the ball but could only divert the goal bound shot.
Line-ups and cards
Ware: Fred Burbidge, Finlay Titchmarsh (Gabriel Ward 76mins), David Sota, Max Granville (Rylee Kitteringham 76mins), Jay Rolfe, Jack Grosvenor, Khale DaCosta (Josh Okotcha 88mins), Anthony Wordsworth (C), Josh Hutchinson (Theo Ofori 76mins), Rechan Esprit (Gucci Soulya-Osekanongo 60mins), Sam Mayuma. Unused subs: Leigh Rose, Ekow Coker.
Yellow card: Gucci Soulya 87mins.
Chesham United: Ben Goode, Alex Lafleur (Alfie Williams 56mins), Karl Oliyide, Giorgio Rasulo, Hisham Kasimu (Mitchell Weiss 78mins), Jayden Bennettts (Alex Babos 61mins), Joe Andrews (Will St Clair-Burton 56mins), Callum Adebiyi (C) (Aaron Lacey 56mins), Connor Roberts, Dubem Eze, Joe Adewunmi. Unused subs Craig Fasanmade, Matt McClure.
Yellow card: Mitchell Weiss 91mins.
