7:40am Monday 6th September 2010
By Sam Morshead
IT was the perfect way to get a stumbling early season up and running.
Shrivenham secured their place in the second qualifying round of the FA Vase with a thumping 5-1 victory over helpless Potton United at the Rec on Saturday, leaving boss Mark Love delighted and the dressing room oozing confidence.
A double strike from debutant Phil Corcoran was the highlight of the display, whilst further efforts from Shane Davis, Chris Cox and Anthony Packer put further gloss on the fluent and efficient performance.
Love now hopes the result will breed belief amongst his players as they prepare to mix it in the league with the visit of Pegasus Juniors on Tuesday night.
“We were clinical,” he said. “I’m very happy with how the whole team played, it was a really good performance.
“We were dominant in the first half and dominant in the second after we came out really fast after half time.
“It was pretty much the perfect result for us ahead of this week.”
Corcoran opened the scoring halfway through the first period, stabbing home Michael Silvanus’ centre, as Shrivvy took an early stranglehold on the tie.
However, in the midst of heavy one-way traffic, Potton somehow managed to bundle home an equaliser with seven minutes remaining before the break.
Graham Tibbals brought down a long throw, turned well and shot low into the bottom corner to restore parity from the Bedfordshire League outfit.
A scoreline of 1-1 at the interval barely did the hosts justice for their superiority, and they were quick to reinstate themselves on the contest less than two minutes after the restart.
Packer used his strength well to force himself to the beeline, and his cross was well-met by Davis who steered the ball home from close range.
As the second half dragged on, so Shrivvy grew further and further into the ascendancy, and on 73 minutes they put the game out of sight - Corcoran smashing home before being replaced by Cox.
It didn’t take long for the substitute to impress either as Cox had been on the pitch for less than 10 minutes when his attempted cross looped over the visiting keeper to extend the Rec side’s lead.
And the rout was completed in stoppage time as Packer polished off a fine individual performance by latching on to Silvanus’ pass to slip the ball past the onrushing keeper.
The five-goal display gave manager Love great pleasure, and lightens the burden on the players’ shoulders to produce results as the season begins to take shape.
“It was great for us because pressure builds on you to win games, and we’ve shown we’re more than capable of that,” he said.
“It also brings money into the club, and who knows how far we can go in the competition, so everyone is happy.”
Shrivenham will travel to Harlow in the next round of the competition.
Meanwhile, Highworth Town crashed out of the Vase after slipping up 2-1 at home to lower league opposition in Bradford Town.
Dave Webb’s side took a very early lead, with Tom Dingle putting the Worthians in front in less than 60 seconds, but two goals in the space of eight minutes before half time for the visitors turned the game on its head, and Highworth were unable to recover.
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