JERSEY Bulls held Step 2 Worthing FC to a 2-2 draw in the Second Round Qualifying of The Emirates FA Cup.
The Jersey Bulls’ best ever result was only enough to earn themselves a replay on Tuesday at Worthing’s home ground, the Sussex Transport Community Stadium.
The Bulls looked set for victory after racing to a 2-0 lead at Springfield Stadium, but a spirited second-half comeback from Worthing saw the game end in a draw.
Jersey Bulls FC 2
Queree 18′, Bickley 47′
Worthing FC 2
Coleman 58′, Babalola 68′
HT Score: 1-0
Attendance: 1,257
JEP Player of the Match: Rai Dos Santos
The afternoon showers cleared in anticipation of the Bulls’ biggest game to date, with the sun shining Springfield Stadium was set for what was an enthralling tie.
Worthing were sporting an all-black outfit whilst the Bulls debuted their new collared strip in Jersey’s red and white colours.
Kick off ensued and the Bulls were steady, finding their feet in the opening stages. Meanwhile, Worthing FC displayed their physical prowess early on and came close in the first minute.
A corner found the head of left-back Toby Byron whose close-range effort was excellently saved by Euan Van Der Vliet.
Worthing continued to apply pressure to the Bulls backline but the men in red stood tall to deny any threat. A number of skewed half-chances went begging for the travelling side.
The deadlock was broken after 18 minutes as a fantastic Jersey Bulls move resulted in Rai Dos Santos drawing a foul in the opposition box.
Lorne Bickley’s smart flick wrongfooted Dos Santos’ marker as the number 10 brought it down superbly and drove into the box.
Dos Santos wriggled his way past the last defender who brought him down in the process, leaving the referee no choice but to point to the spot.
Captain James Queree converted the spot-kick to put the Bulls a goal in front, marking his fifth of the season from defence. A fantastic counter-attacking move caught the visitors napping.
The Bulls continued to look comfortable against their superior opposition. Evident tactical decisions from manager, Elliot Powell, were keeping the favourites at bay.
The counter-attacking nature of the Jersey Bulls first-half performance was working to a tee. With Worthing creating very few clear-cut opportunities, whilst dominating possession, it was the Bulls who looked the more dangerous going forward.
A chance broke for the Bulls’ just before the half-time whistle, Luke Watson blocked a Worthing effort from the edge of the box which in turn broke nicely for Miguel Carvalho.
Carvalho found himself driving at an isolated Byron with his strike force in Bickley and Dos Santos up in support. A three-on-one situation looked devastating for Worthing.
However, a miscued outside the boot pass from Carvalho was well cut-out by the lone defender.
Worthing’s eight corners to the Bulls’ zero in the first half showed the domination in possession. However, a comfortable defensive display from the home side denied Worthing a breakthrough. The Bulls headed into the changing rooms a goal to the good.
An attack-minded half time substitution from Worthing saw Byron taken off for attacker Bradley Dolaghan.
Despite the tactical shift, it was the Bulls who struck in the 47th minute. Another brilliant move was finished off beautifully by Lorne Bickley.
Jay Giles played a ball into space down the left-hand side, with Dos Santos in pursuit. The number 10’s pace proved too much for the Worthing captain as he nudged it through to an oncoming Toby Ritzema.
Ritzema remained composed and found his striker on the edge of the six-yard-box with an outside the boot square pass. Bickley’s delicate backheel bamboozled goalkeeper Sebastian Stacey, who was unable to keep it out.
However, the Bulls’ two-goal lead was short lived. A strong challenge from Dos Santos on the edge of his penalty area was deemed a foul by the referee.
Whilst Dos Santos made contact with the ball, it was the follow through that put his name into the referee’s book.
The resulting free kick was converted exquisitely by Razzaq Coleman. A curled left-footed strike from 20 yards found the top-right hand corner leaving Van Der Vliet with no chance.
Worthing FC continued to dominate possession and were on the front foot for the remainder of the second stanza.
Bulls’ midfielder Toby Ritzema was replaced by Will Yates following an injury which may prove a big miss ahead of Tuesday’s replay.
It was just ten minutes separating the two Worthing goals. It was striker Temi Babalola that sped his way past Giles to bring the game level.
A retreating Giles made what looked to be a fantastic last-ditch challenge, but an unfortunate deflection off the striker took it past an oncoming Van Der Vliet into an empty net.
With the game finely poised, both sides turned to their benches in a bid to seize a place in the Third Round Qualifiers.
Francis Lekimamati and Fraser Barlow replaced Dos Santos and Watson with 15 minutes remaining, but were unable to provide the breakthrough.
As the clock wound down, it was Worthing who looked the fresher side, underlining the physical demands of Step 2 football.
Despite late efforts from both teams, the deadlock remained, and the match ended all square.
The Jersey side now gear up for a rematch on Tuesday, which will certainly prove another tough test.
Full report to follow in Monday’s edition of the JEP.
