Brightlingsea Regent, currently playing in the Isthmian League North Division, made the trip from Essex to Wodson Park for the First Qualifying Round of the FA Trophy. The R’s were winless in their opening three league games and faced an unbeaten Ware side following their recent victory over Leverstock Green in the FA Cup.
However, Ware’s poor, long-standing record in the Trophy may have boosted their opponents’ confidence ahead of the knockout fixture. The home side were also without their number one, Fred Burbidge, after a worrying injury against Leverstock sidelined the keeper for the foreseeable future. Therefore, eighteen-year-old Chesham loanee Zack Braverman was the first name on Paul Halsey’s team sheet.
In front of the young man stood the centre-back pairing of Anthony Wordsworth and Ekow Coker, both of whom have made impressive starts to the season. David Sota and Max Granville retained their respective full-back positions in Halsey’s defence. Due to Wordsworth operating in his secondary position, Jack Taylor joined captain Herbie Townsend and Gucci Soulya in midfield, while Sam Mayuma and Khale Da Costa partnered alongside Josh Hutchinson in the forward line. Jack Grosvenor returned to The Blues’ matchday squad after a lengthy setback. Fellow defender Josh Okotcha was unlucky to miss out in Halsey’s eleven, as was Rechan Esprit after finding the net in the FA Cup a week prior. Attacking pair Theo Ofori and Reece Beckles-Richards also sat alongside the home substitutes.
The forecasted downpour welcomed both sets of players onto the pitch and the heavens remained open for the majority of the ninety minutes that followed. The persistent weather affected Ware’s Soulya six minutes in as he attempted to take the ball around Regent goalkeeper Roan Tucker. He slipped in the wet conditions at the pivotal moment. The game was an open, end-to-end affair during the opening fifteen minutes.
Neither side had the product in the final third. In a half-hour of half chances and scrappy battles, it took until the twenty-sixth minute of the Trophy tie for a real opportunity to unfold. Da Costa was presented with the best chance of the match so far as the ball bounced kindly in front of him and the angle simultaneously opened to find the unmarked Soulya across the edge of the eighteen-yard box. Instead, the attacker chose to go alone, lofting his attempt over the goalkeeper and wide of the left post. Within five minutes of Da Costa’s effort, Brightlingsea Regent found themselves with a clear run at goal until full-back Sota opened up and demonstrated his blistering pace to spare his fellow defender’s blushes with a last-ditch challenge.
Soon after the footrace, R’s manager Ryan Salter tactically flipped the positions of his wingers, Joe Watson and Matt Tricker. Towards the end of a rather uneventful first half, Coker voiced his frustration at the lack of attacking output from the home team. In the thirty-ninth minute, referee Matthew Childs flashed the first yellow card of the afternoon in the direction of Regent defender Emmanuel Zion after he cynically pulled down Soulya in the R’s final third. A short but late spell of dominance from Brightlingsea Regent concluded the first, goalless forty-five minutes in Ware’s half.
Unfortunately for the hosts, the visitors commenced the second half how they left off, in control. In the fifty-first minute, the carded Zion punished Ware’s hesitant Braverman with a looping header from a free kick to put his side one to the good. Ware’s reaction was not apparent in the eyes of Halsey, who consequently pushed Wordsworth into midfield, sending centre-back Grosvenor on for Taylor.
Halsey’s tactical adjustment did not immediately transform the game, although Ware did pile on the pressure towards the seventieth minute. The home side were adamant that the referee had missed a blatant penalty when Da Costa was wrestled to the ground. Despite Matthew Childs waving away their appeals, Ware’s frustration finally became productive. The Blues’ slow-burning reaction to going a goal down early in the second half reached boiling point as Wordsworth was gifted a tap-in from Tucker’s error in the seventy-fifth minute. The R’s had been unable to survive Ware’s storm. They attempted to create one of their own immediately after the home side levelled the scoring. Braverman was forced to make an important stop, smothering the ball after it had crept past his standing position close to the near post.
Penalty kicks were looming with five minutes remaining, leaving both managers to think tactically when opting for changes, all the more so as both sides had Bank Holiday football scheduled within 48 hours of the clash. Ware introduced Okotcha for Coker, while the R’s opted for a more aggressive change, replacing left-back Travis Richards with forward Dan Rowe. The introduction of one of Ware’s favoured penalty takers, Beckles-Richards, followed as Townsend made way.
Two halves of football were not enough to separate the two sides, leaving a decisive penalty shootout for a place in the Second Qualifying Round. The Blues had lost both their two previous penalty shootouts in the Trophy. Never before had the home side been in the hands of young Braverman.
Matthew Childs’ coin toss determined that the penalties were to be taken at the A10 End. The home side stepped up first. Following a fair display from the number nine, Hutchinson calmly converted The Blues’ first spot kick, placing his penalty into the bottom-left corner and sending Tucker the wrong way. Substitute Jake Clowsley had the responsibility of levelling the scoring and did so, sending the ball high into Braverman’s top-left corner. The spotlight then turned to Beckles-Richards. The substitute rattled the crossbar with his kick. Regent’s number ten Charlie Collis had the opportunity to put the visitors ahead and made no mistake. Collis slotted his penalty low into Braverman’s left corner, giving the R’s the advantage. Wordsworth then convincingly placed Ware’s third penalty towards the right side of the goal. Central midfielder Harry McDonald replicated Wordsworth’s effort to maintain the visitors’ advantage. Mayuma then thumped home a fantastically executed penalty for The Blues, giving even the very best of goalkeepers little to no chance of saving the kick. It took until the eighth total penalty of the shootout for either goalkeeper to guess correctly. Braverman was unable to stop Charlie Durling from putting Regent back in front.
The fifth penalty commenced sudden death and Ofori’s quick, short run-up potentially caught Tucker off guard. Ofori gently passed the ball across the floor and down the middle to keep Ware afloat. Eighteen-year-old Braverman then had to stop Tricker from converting his spot kick, otherwise it was an early Trophy exit for the home side. Braverman leapt to his left and brilliantly got behind Tricker’s shot from the spot. It was level once again after five apiece.
Despite not featuring among Ware’s initial five penalty takers, the home crowd had all faith in Esprit to put The Blues ahead for the first time in the shootout since the opening kick. After enduring the long and lonely walk to the spot, Esprit maintained his composure and calmly placed his penalty towards the goalkeeper’s left. Regent’s Mehki Mckenzie now had to score to keep his side in the shootout. However, debutant Braverman heroically saved the decisive penalty in front of an exhilarated home crowd, sending his side through to the next round with two consecutive saves in the shootout. It was a memorable debut for Ware’s loanee, redeeming himself after conceding a goal he believed he could have dealt with better.
Line-ups and cards
Ware: Zack Braverman, Max Granville, David Sota, Herbie Townsend (C) (Reece Beckles-Richards 91mins), Ekow Coker (Josh Okotcha 86mins), Anthony Wordsworth, Khale Da Costa (Theo Ofori 74mins), Jack Taylor (Jack Grosvenor 56mins), Josh Hutchinson, Gucci Soulya-Osekanongo (Rechan Esprit 69mins), Sam Mayuma.
Yellow card: Ekow Coker 78mins.
Brightlingsea Regent: Roan Tucker, Marley Andrews, Emmanuel Zion, Charlie Durling (C), Travis Richards (Dan Rowe 85mins), Matthew Tricker Luca Terminiello (Giani Ashley 62mins), Harry McDonald, Joseph Watson (Jake Clowsley 45mins), Charlie Collis Thomas Cottle-Wood (Mekhi McKenzie 62mins). Unused sub: Jenson Mulqueen.
Yellow card: Emmanuel Zion 39mins.
