Christchurch book place in next round of FA Vase

FA Vase First Round: Christchurch FC 3-1 Brimscombe & Thrupp

CHRISTCHURCH booked their place in the second round of the FA Vase after a deserved 3-1 victory over Hellenic Premier Division side Brimscombe & Thrupp.

Ben Satterley, Josh Kirkham and Luke Stone all got on the scoresheet for Christchurch while Ollie Pitt scored a second-half goal for the visitors.

After a 9am pitch inspection due to rain, officials decided to go ahead with the game as Brimscombe travelled six hours down from Gloucestershire to Hurn Bridge Sports Club.

Christchurch started brightly in the heavy showers and were nearly awarded a penalty in the opening minutes when Kirkham collided with visitors’ keeper Ashley Gale, but the referee waved away their appeals.

Brimscombe had their chances in the first half with James Campbell’s deflected effort before a goalmouth scramble that would have had the hosts on the ropes if it was not deemed offside.

With six minutes to play Christchurch opened the scoring through early substitute Satterley as his curling effort beat the on-rushing Gale to put the hosts ahead going into half-time.

After the break, Brimscombe pushed forward as they looked for an equaliser. Their attacking pressure paid dividends when Pitt’s 30-yard effort deceived Christchurch keeper Lewis Gunstone-Grey and nestled into the bottom corner.

However, their celebrations were short-lived as the hosts went back ahead through a fantastic team goal. Max Wilcock’s tricky pass sent Matthew Neale to the byline where he pulled the ball back for Kirkham who fired home from inside the box.

Christchurch doubled their lead in the 82nd minute when Brimscombe keeper Gale handled a back-pass. The indirect free-kick was touched to Stone who crashed the ball past the packed Brimscombe area and into the roof of the net to seal Christchurch’s place in the next round where they will host Badshot Lea on 2nd November.

Christchurch manager Ollie Cherrett told the A&T: “We are really pleased with the result and I thought we were excellent.

“In tough conditions, we controlled large parts of the game. Our attacking play was good, and with better finishing we could have scored more.”

Christchurch: Gunstone-Grey, Ohameje, Wright, Frost, Walker (c), Blake, Kirkham, Swann, Graham, Wilcock, Neale. Subs: Cooper, Murrain, King, Stone, Satterley.