CCK were dumped out of the Cup by a strong Montpelier Villa side 4-0. The Badgers were not at their best as they were cut open by Villa, who march onwards.
A repeat of the league meeting between the two sides recently was definitely something the Badgers wanted to avoid, but a disappointing first half display, just as in the fore-mentioned contest, did little to prevent a similar fate. Going forward CCK looked purposeful with some neat combination football and some nice spells of pressure, but defensively they found themselves stretched. Through balls into the channels would drag both centre backs out of position allowing the untracked midfielders to utilise the vacant space. The Badgers had Rob Woodward to thank on several occasions as he pounced on slightly over-hit passes. There was little he could do about Villa’s opening goal however, when their winger cut inside and struck through a cluster of players, defeating the unsighted Woodward low to his left. Villa have made a good habit of making the most of their good spells and doubled the lead within minutes. Another eighteen yard box scenario with more sky blue shirts than yellow enabling a scoring opportunity which was neatly tucked home, metaphorically erecting a mountain between CCK and their path through to the next round of the Cup. Mount Snowdon became Mount Kilimanjaro as Villa extended their lead further making a quick counter attack leaving CCK chasing shadows and then a decent finish past Woodward. The minutes preceding that killer goal had shown a great deal of promise for CCK with some fantastic football and a great chance for Tim Rose. The right back saw his shot well saved by the keeper. Dave Jones also forced a save from the keeper with a volley from the edge of the area, and Mike Morrison had an attempt narrowly miss the target. 3-0 was the same half-time score as the league encounter but CCK had not been quite as outplayed as the score-line suggested.
A call to arms saw significant improvement from CCK, as the defence looked far more solid, Doug Reid was particularly combative with some strong tackles and neat passes out from the back. Mike Spence, Gary Walke, and Tim Rose were far stingier with their defending. The midfield of Dan Hardnen, Dave Sewell, Mike Morrison, Dave Jones, and Jonny Cassell were protecting their defence with greater success, while also passing the ball nicely. Norman Di Giamberardino who had been moved forward from midfield to attack was chasing hard and shooting from distance at every opportunity. That positivity was required and he forced saves from the keeper. The best of the lot almost led to a goal, as Dave Jones pounced on the rebound only to make the wrong decision in attempting to round the keeper and pass instead of shooting. Jonny Cassell then saw his shot from a tight angle hit the side netting after a good pass from Mike Morrison. Morrison was enjoying far more of the ball and his deliberate runs were worrying the Villa players and a couple of shots hit the target too, however, none that got past the impressive Villa keeper. Dan Shotton and Charlie Jones took to the field replacing Dan Harnden, and Doug Reid respectively. Rob Woodward decided to come forward for corners and managed to get a header on one of them with little real threat on goal. Tim Rose produced a fine cross which was speculatively struck goal-wards via a Dave Jones overhead kick, it had the keeper worried but found the roof of the net rather than breaching the goal. It was inevitable that with all the forward pressure gaps would start to appear, and when a breakaway resulted in a goal for Montpelier it just confirmed CCK’s plight. So the end of the road for CCK’s Cup venture, and a 4-0 defeat just adding to the cold Badgers fans disappointment.
Club Captain Dave Sewell was frank when he spoke with Sky Sports News after match, “It’s never nice to go out the cup. We got to the final last season and to be beaten and deserve to be beaten is gutting. We now have got to focus on improving our league position and play with smiles on our faces again. We are down about the defeat but we need to enjoy our football more and then I’m sure we’ll achieve better results.” Manager Tim Rose seemed rather less upset about the defeat and even went as far to claim that a Cup run would be a distraction, comments that will anger the competitions officials and sponsors. Rose, “It’s always bad to lose, but it’s only the Cup and it now allows us to focus on the league with more focus and less distraction. They were better than us so good luck to them in the next round.” Badgers fans that travelled to the match were clearly disgruntled by Rose’s comments leading to a barrage of angry calls to the football radio phone-ins, some labelling Rose “anti-football” and “a foreign manager in disguise” as they believed he showed a lack of passion for the English game. A win is very much needed to appease the fans, and one would be much appreciated next week when they face Premier League new-boys AFC Falmer Falcons.
