JERSEY Bulls produced a statement victory in the FA Cup with an assured 5-0 win on home soil.
Springfield Stadium was bathed in glorious summer sunshine on Saturday afternoon as the Jersey Bulls kicked off their 2025/26 FA Cup campaign in emphatic fashion, thrashing Erith & Belvedere 5-0 in the Extra Preliminary Round.
The Bulls will face step-five team Fisher FC in the next round of the FA Cup.
Despite a delayed start, with kick-off pushed back an hour to 4.30pm after the opposition’s flight to the Island was held up, the Bulls wasted no time in stamping their authority on their first competitive fixture of the season.
The Bulls quickly asserted themselves in the opening stages, dictating the
tempo as Erith & Belvedere struggled to find a rhythm.
Central to Jersey’s early dominance was the midfield trio of Luke Watson, Jack Lumsden, and Joe Kilshaw, who regularly exploited pockets of space and gave the hosts a firm grip on proceedings from the outset.
The reds were rewarded for their dominant start through Miguel Carvalho, the nifty number 11 finishing off a sumptuous team move after 13 minutes to put the Bulls in front.
A delicate backheel lay-off from Lumsden set Carvalho up to slot it far corner on his weaker right foot marking his first goal of the season. The Bulls looked in cruise control after Carvalho’s opener.
Bickley was in and amongst the action, two opportunities went begging before he converted after 25 minutes.
Bickley reacted sharply to a clever flick-on from the ever-aware Kilshaw, who picked out the striker’s run. Brushing aside the lone defender in pursuit, Bickley coolly rounded the goalkeeper and rolled the ball into an empty net, a composed finish that gave the Bulls a well-earned two-goal cushion.
Queree, filling in at right-back, was the first to be cautioned after leaving a mark on the shins of the opposing number nine, Danny Lear.
The Bulls remained relentless in their attack, the focal point in Bickley was found yet again following a tidy move. Lumsden was unselfish yet again, ignoring his clear opportunity at goal, he slipped it to an unmarked Bickley who’s somewhat scuffed effort bobbled over the line to extend the Bulls lead after 33 minutes.
It took 39 minutes for Van Der Vliet to face a shot on goal, a fairly tame effort form Harry Day was well-saved by the Bulls shot-stopper who had very little to answer to in the opening stanza.
The half-time whistle blew with the Bulls boasting a three goal advantage. 3-0 was an honest depiction of the first 45.
The visitors in blue and white applied a bit more pressure after the break. Day’s low-driven effort sent Van Der Vliet low to his left to produce a quality save.
With the fixture more in the balance following the restart, Bulls’ striker Bickley relieved the opposing defence of a headache when he was forced off through a hamstring problem after 55 minutes.
Bickley’s replacement, Coutanche, made an instant impact, turning his marker inside out and delivering a fantastic ball across the face of goal, but the absence of Bickley meant the chance was squandered.
The best chance of the game for the visitors fell to Ladic Melconian, the ball dropped kindly for the number ten, but his half-volleyed effort from 12 yards was mistimed and sailed over the bar.
As much as Erith & Belvedere grew into the game, the Bulls goalmouth remained unbothered.
Unfortunately for the East-London club, it was the Bulls that shifted the momentum once again. A well-worked move was capped off by a wonderful guided finish by the captain James Queree.
For a man who failed to net once last season, this goal looked as if he nudges them in for fun. A lay-off from Barlow was begging to be hit, and Queree caressed it brilliantly, with his in-step, into the top-right hand corner.
Two goals came in quick succession for the Bulls to mark their fifth of the afternoon. The tenacious Lumsden won the ball back in midfield and eventually slipped a slide-rule pass into the run of Carvalho, who was never going to miss. His second of the afternoon wrapped up a poised Jersey Bulls performance.
With the game firmly in the home side’s grip, Powell was able to introduce some of the youngsters off the bench, alongside a competitive debut for midfielder Luke Shirley. The fresh legs of the debutants made a significant difference, and there was certainly no shying away from the occasion as they all contributed excellently.
Manager, Elliot Powell was pleased with the performance despite having little pre-season preparation: “I’m really happy, we haven’t had the best preparation and that’s been well documented. So to come out and get a three goal lead pretty quickly was a relief to be honest.”
Despite the scoreline, Powell is sure there are improvements needed: “We’re going to have to be better next week against Margate, there’s still some sloppy areas that we need to tidy up, but largely it was comfortable today.”
Man of the Match Jack Lumsden was at the heart of the action, and his performance did not go unnoticed by Powell: “I thought Jack was brilliant today, he’s obviously a really talented player and its unfortunate we don’t have him more often as he is at uni. But I thought the young lads that came off the bench were just as good as well.”
Lumsden was buzzing with his output: “It’s good to be back in midfield, I felt fit and to top it off with three assists was nice.”
Powell mentioned the importance of Lumsden and Watson to ensure his attackers can interchange and act as a fluid front four: “Having Lumsden and Watson behind them, gives you that little bit more freedom.
“And what will be really exciting is when we have all of our lads back, once they’re back we should have a squad that can compete at this level.”
The Bulls face Fisher FC in the next round of the FA Cup, Powell is hoping for much of the same next time out: “They will be more physical, and a bigger unit than we played today. We don’t know too much, but here at Springfield we can get the ball down and play, and if we play like we did in spells today, then we can blow them away.”
Bulls Squad:
Euan Van Der Vliet, James, Queree (c), Luke Campbell, Sammy Sutcliffe, Jay Giles, Luke Watson, Jack Lumsden, Joe Kilshaw, Miguel Carvalho, Lorne Bickley, Fraser Barlow. Substitutes: Ewan Brodie (for Sutcliffe, 67’), James Carr (for Giles, 72’), Luke Shirley (for Kilshaw, 67’), Stanley Dunne (for Lumsden, 76’), Luke Coutanche (for Bickley, 55’), Pierce Roche.
Erith & Belvedere Squad:
Charlie Cottrell, AJ Morrison, Ronnie McClean, Ryan Fowler, Rob Strachan, Freddie Cray, Freddie Baker, Alfie Morgan, Danny Lear, Ladic Melconian, Harry Day. Substitutes: Tommy Whitnell, Bobby Dunn (for Melconian, 72’), Donnell Anderson (for Morrison, 72’), Matthias Broomes (for Baker, 72’) Scott Jarvis, Macey Malyon (for Lear, 65’)
