Welling United 1 Grays Athletic 3 (Setanta Shield 4th Round)
Tue, January 29, 2008. Kick off: 7:45 PM
Match Report By Martin Candler
A fine hat-trick from Scott Taylor saw the Blues safely through to the 5th Round of the Setanta Shield at Welling‘s Park View Road Stadium on Tuesday night. Grays fielded a strong side, and with Neil McCafferty and Cameron Mawer starting for the injured Andy Sambrook and Alan Power, the tie finally got underway after two postponements. Early on Ben Watson was put clean through on goal but shot tamely straight at keeper Jamie Turner. However, in the 11th minute Taylor showed the way with a clinical finish as Grays then took control of the match but several chances went astray. Perhaps a little complacency crept into their play for in the 21st minute a quick ball over the top caught the Blues rearguard sleeping and Ernie Cooksey handled in the area to give the Wings a lifeline. Welling had missed from the spot on the last three occasions but this time Richard Carpenter made no mistake to send the teams in level at the break.
The game Conference South outfit tried to take the tie to Grays in the second half and the pace and trickery of Orlando Smith, in particular, gave the Blues some worrying moments but wild finishing and poor final passes let the home side down. Grays, with Michael Standing and ex-Wings Danny Kedwell dominating the play, fashioned a second goal in the 51st minute when the alert Taylor profited from a Kedwell headed knockdown and struck a fierce volley, taken early, past Turner.
The introduction of Aaron O‘Connor in the 67th minute for the out-of-sorts Watson gave Grays greater impetus and it was from his run and cross that Taylor completed a memorable hat-trick by stabbing home at the far post. Could he be the “fox in the box” that Blues fans have craved for this season? In a final flurry, Sam Keevil rattled the crossbar with a powerful shot but, in truth, Grays ran out comfortable winners.
Grays Athletic: Flitney, Stuart, Gaia, Mawer, Ashton, Cooksey(Day 75), Standing(Selley 81), McCafferty, Kedwell, Watson(O'Connor 67), Taylor
Subs not used: Gibbons, Obersteller
Goalscorer: Taylor(11, 51, 83)
Welling United: Turner, Maxwell(Dean 85), Ryan(Bentley 70), Carpenter, Ohakham, Solomon, Green, Keevill, Coleman, Boakye(Crawford 85), Smith
Subs not used: Cobbs, Powell
Goalscorer: Carpenter(21)
Ref: Mr N. Hair
Attn:
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