Report

Chew knew that Ashton United would be a good team, playing in a league parallel to theirs in the Bristol division, in this the first round of the Somerset Junior Cup. So when Dec turned up having not remembered picking Nathan up on their way to football, the team were a little worried that we wouldn’t be in the right frame of mind to get a positive result. Andy was back in this week for TJ, meaning Haydon could return to centre mid, and Sammy Sav was in for P meaning a slight reshuffle lead to Lee, Haydon, Fran, Sav, Dec along the midfield and Dan up top by himself.

The game started and it was obvious early on that Ashton were a good physical team, so naturally Bouch was in his element. Making every tackle from the off these are the type of matches Bouch thrives on and he set the tone for the Chew boys who rose to the challenge well.

With the teams about equal, it was Chew who scored first when Dawse was found under pressure he rolled the ball back to Kirky who connected wonderfully with his trusty left, now rivalling Dawse for the best left foot in the club. Lee controlled and turned before sliding in Dec who saw about 5 balls as he sprinted through with a run from right to left. Luckily he picked the right ball and just clipped the ball past the onrushing keeper, staying on his feet Dec turned and from a narrow angle nutmegged the centre back to put Chew 1-0 up.

Soon after Lee went down injured, a shame as he had a had a promising start to the game but on came super sub Pickford in his place. The foul wasn’t given on Lee even though it turned out he broke his foot, meaning he’s out of action for 9 weeks. A big blow for the Chew boys as Lee has had a good start to the season. Shortly after this incident we conceded a free kick in a dangerous position 20 yards out. Kirky could only parry the first effort from the resulting kick but did superbly to get down and save from the onrushing forward who had the goal at his mercy. A great double save with Mr Kirk showing his class in goal and keeping us in the lead. He saved again when the unconvincing Dawson was outpaced from a through ball but Kirky diving at his near post never looked like being beaten.

Shortly before half time Chew made it 2-0 when Haydon took a quick free kick to Dawson who launched an up and under into the penalty area which both Dan and Dec competed for. The keep flapped and the ball rebounded to Sav who did a textbook L1 and O on fifa to lob the ball over the keeper and into the empty net. 2-0 at half time with Chew playing well and doing a good job in keeping the physical team, from over the hill, at bay.

The second half started and still the teams were both evenly matched, with Chew shading the football side of things; especially when Haydon and Dan got on the ball. Ashton were a threat from set pieces though and twice in quick succession Dawse came to the rescue when crosses over the keeper looked destined for an Ashton head to nod home until Dawson intervened.

The team, urged on by Fran were winning all their tackles; Bouch and Andy leading by example at the back. There were flashes of brilliance from Dec and Joe as they showed tremendous energy and skill in constantly taking on and beating their men, whilst Pickford’s delivery from the left was always a threat. And it was from a Pickford delivery that Chew scored the crucial 3^rd. With good build up down the left from Dawson and Fran, Pickford was released and crossed first time into the middle. Les, now on for Dan had an open goal but fluffed his chance and nearly took the ball off of Dec who was following in behind. But Dec readjusted well and slid the ball home to put Chew into the next round. Les will claim the assist but in fact he has instead probably played his way out of the team due to missing an open goal.

With Dawse conceding 7 second half free kicks, without a card, Chew were always under pressure from set pieces, but with Fran, Dawse and Andy winning everything in the air we saw the game out and got another fantastic result, another clean sheet and our 6^th win in a row. The international break has come at a bad time for the 1s as the team buzzing with confidence want to keep playing and keep winning. But instead we will be celebrating an excellent start to the season by watching the reserves win next Saturday followed by a team building night out in town that will hopefully be the highlight of the season to date.