On a sunny morning Avonmouth met up with their old friendly rivals from previous seasons Coalpit Heath ‘B’ for a first round cup tie. Avonmouth started with the usual early attacking assault on their opponents goal & the reward came after only 5 minutes when a deflected shot by Lukas Tsiopani hit the post & went straight to Mitch Harris who could not miss the open goal.
The second goal did not take long to come & after good work from Montel Riches, Harris coolly put the ball away with ease. After only 11 minutes Harris completed his hat trick. After great build up play that started from the back with goalkeeper Callum Davis, the ball was passed from defence through midfield to Tsiopani who again had a shot from which this time the goalkeeper made a save only for the ball to fall for the predatory Harris to score from close in.
Avonmouth continued to attack relentlessly & after 17 minutes following good movement in midfield the ball came to Sam Reynolds who hit a tremendous left foot shot from outside the box into the top left hand corner giving the goalkeeper no chance.
The Avonmouth Management team started to make changes to try different options & get more goals but on 26 minutes with their first real attacking threat Coalpit got their opening goal. A ball over the top of the Avonmouth central defence fell to the striker Lloyd who produced a great finish lifting the ball over the advancing goalkeeper. This spurred Avonmouth into action & it was not long before the fifth goal came. After a good pass from Jeriel Riches, Harris this time showed his shooting power with a great shot that again gave the Coalpit goalie no chance. This was a half when nearly all the Avonmouth shots were unusually on target & in injury time a free kick was awarded to them close to the half way line after a foul on Riches (M). Up stepped Reynolds who unleashed a tremendous shot that flew in to the top of the net again giving the home goalkeeper no chance.
Half Time: Coalpit Heath ‘B’ 1 Avonmouth 6
After the break Coalpit made certain changes and had a more determined look about them. They denied Avonmouth the space they had enjoyed in the first half & as a result the game became scrappy with niggling fouls & stoppages. There were few chances for either team but on the hour mark after a good through ball Coalpit’s Nethercott produced a neat finish into the bottom right side corner of the net. There was still time for one more goal as Josh Beecham scored with a trademark free kick just outside the box which took a deflection past the goalkeeper.
A great result for Avonmouth and a decent game, with all the damage done by the away side in the first half when at times some good attractive football was produced. However in the second half a very committed Coalpit team gave evidence that the 2 league games later in the season could be closer affairs. For now Avonmouth can look forward to the next round of the cup with a home match against St Aldhelms.
Full Time: Coalpit Heath ‘B’ 2 Avonmouth 7
