Striker Rob Edmans took his turn to net the only goal of the game as Chelmsford City moved into the last eight of the Essex Senior Cup.
That was after their third consecutive 1-0 victory in an all-action tie at Melbourne Stadium against Julian Dicks’ Blue Square Premier outfit Grays Athletic on Monday nigght.
Having defeated Welling United and St Albans City by the same scoreline in their previous two outings, Head Coach Glenn Pennyfather was enthused by a third straight shut-out which moves his team into the quarter-finals in their defence of the competition. He said: “It was a great result and performance and it was brilliant to keep another clean sheet as we’ve spoken a lot about defending well. We looked sharp, full of energy and should have put the game to bed with the amount of chances we had.”
Edmans’ (pictured) goal midway through the first half had a lot to do with young left-back Josh Brown, who emerged from the youth team via Witham Town to make an impact on his return, Pennyfather adding: “Josh was impressive as he’s been on loan at Witham and has really matured during that time. We felt it was the right time to bring him back as we have high hopes for him. It was also good to give Ben Martin 90 minutes. He desperately needs games as he is a big player for us in more ways than one!”
Pennyfather opted to make just three changes to the side which won their league game at the weekend, two of which were enforced. Michael Haswell was unwell, which handed Brown his chance to impress, while a slight hamstring strain meant Dave Rainford sat out of proceedings and passed Ollie Berquez the captain’s armband as John Martin joined the starting eleven. In the centre of defence, Ben Martin replaced Steve Ward.
Ricky Holmes was his usual threatening self in the opening stages for the Clarets, dribbling inside from the right and overrunning his chance then later driving a free-kick into the defensive wall before Matthew Lock sliced a subsequent effort wide. Grays weren’t without chances to start with, however, one header at goal being pegged back for a climb on a City defender while Petar Rnkovic found himself narrowly onside and in the clear only to produce a rasping shot onto the outside of the post and wide.
Folo Unibuje side-footed a 20th minute ball across the face of goal but that was almost as near as Grays would ultimately come to a goal, Chelmsford instead taking the lead at the other end. Brown received the ball deep on the left thanks to a crafty dummy from Lock and swerved a first-time, sweet delivery low and into the path of Edmans at the far post who made no mistake in stretching to bury the chance into the back of the net.
In the immediate aftermath, Chelmsford ‘keeper Ashley Harrison had to get down and save a hooked effort while some good possession from Holmes for City resulted in a strike from distance which flew straight into the grasp of Edwards. A stooping, low header from Grays was the last attacking action of a high-tempo first period which re-opened after the break when Holmes hit the side-netting, though the early stages after half-time were regularly broken-up by a succession of offside decisions.
Anthony Cook’s cross dropped onto the top of the net and a Lock shot flew across goal with Chelmsford searching for a second and they thought they’d got it on 56 minutes as Holmes raced through and tucked wide of Edwards only to see his goal cancelled by a debatable offside flag. Moments later, Holmes was through again but this time his run towards the danger zone was unlawfully ended by Edwards, who was booked.
This raised the heat of the match still further and Edmans should have put the Clarets well in control as he had time and space around 15 yards from goal but hit the stanchion with an effort which seemed destined for goal. Thankfully for the hosts this didn’t come back to haunt them as Chelmsford remained the most likely to score, especially when Cook displayed some classy ball skills with his back to goal before his scissor-kick brought the best out of Edwards who got down to turn the ball round the post.
Ben Martin headed straight at Edwards in injury time though a single goal proved sufficient to advance and leave Pennyfather to reflect on past glories. “We’ve had some great times in the Senior Cup and enjoyed our involvement in the past,” he recalled. “Jeff [King] and I didn’t like it when we lost matches in this competition with Canvey as there is a showpiece occasion at the end that two clubs can look forward to. Whether it’s the Senior Cup, the Trophy or the FA Cup, every player wants to play in a cup final and we’ll always remember the atmosphere at Roots Hall two years ago. We want more of that!”
