Selsey 0-3 Fisher
Saturday 16 August
FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Goals: Campbell 27; Walton 45; Roche 66
After two defeats in 48 hours on the opening weekend of the season, Fisher found their feet on the Sussex Coast when they travelled to Selsey in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Right from the outset, Fisher looked strong and put Selsey to work early on. A combination of fluent passing and pace released Kieron Campbell on several occasions. Campbell spent most of the afternoon dancing past Selsey’s defenders whose youth and inexperience was clear for all to see.
With the home side playing three centre-halves, Campbell in particular made the most of space left behind right wing-back James Parsons, who had an unfortunate afternoon and sliced wide Selsey’s best chance of the half from 12 yards out.
Selsey’s goalkeeper Ryan Chard did well to keep the scores level as Campbell, Richard Morgan, Alfie Roche and Billy Walton to name a few went on the attack. Selsey did try to create chances of their own but Fisher were able to comfortably deal with what little pressure they came under.
Campbell finally made the breakthrough in the 27th minute, the goal inevitably coming as the diminutive midfielder picked up the ball in space on the Fisher left. He did well to twist and turn his way past a few defenders with the ball before calmly dispatching his shot past the goalkeeper into the far corner.
The Fish never really looked in trouble after taking the lead, and continued to press forward as they looked to extend their advantage. Within seconds of the restart Fisher had regained possession and Campbell was on the attack again. He won the Fish a corner which Danny Maguire whipped in only to see it collected by Chard.
Alfie Roche had a wonderful chance to make it 2-0 but squared the ball to Walton, when a taking a shot himself looked the best option – Walton saw his shot and rebound effort both saved. Campbell then tried to set up Roche with a good ball across the box but Roche was tackled before he could get a shot away.
Billy Walton finally doubled Fisher’s lead just before the break, as he connected at the far post with a corner that Chard failed to claim. The ball headed towards the hapless Parsons, covering the near post, but his attempted clearance met fresh air and the ball crossed the line before he could clear it to safety.
The start of the second half was a little cagey as Fisher struggled to settle. Selsey managed a couple of chances but couldn’t test debutant Fisher goalkeeper Adam Highsted. Fisher continued to test Selsey’s defence and Alfie Roche finally got the goal that he deserved in the 66th minute. Once again Campbell was at the heart of the move, riding an attempted foul and with referee Tristan Greaves playing an excellent advantage he danced past another defender before laying off a perfect pass that left Roche with a simple finish to seal the win.
Looking solid at the back and with little chance of a Selsey comeback, Fisher eased through the last 25 minutes, making a couple of changes (one being swapping Roche for returning striker Troy Abbey). Abbey added another dimension to Fisher’s attack and he could well of added insult to injury in the dying moments when he flicked a high through ball past the goalkeeper only to see the ball roll agonisingly wide of the far post.
The win sets Fisher up with a home tie against Ryman Division One South side Ramsgate on Saturday August 30th
Fisher: Highsted, Seales, Henry-Brown, McGeehan (Fogarty 69), H Hanifan, Walton, Campbell, Oshilaja, Morgan (Robbins 82), Maguire, Roche (Abbey 74)
Subs: Webber, Crowe, Taylor, Lee
Attendance: 105
