Glebe 1-1 Hanworth Villa - We want to be as successful as we can on all fronts this year, says Glebe manager Harry Hudson

Glebe 1 – 1 Hanworth Villa
Location	Foxbury Avenue, off Perry Street, Chislehurst, Kent BR7 6SD
Kickoff	20/11/2021 15:00

GLEBE  1-1  HANWORTH VILLA
(Glebe win 5-3 on penalties)
The Buildbase FA Vase Second Round
Saturday 20 November 2021
Stephen McCartney reports from Foxbury Avenue

GLEBE manager Harry Hudson says the football gods were on his side after his players’ held their nerve from the penalty spot to reach The FA Vase Third Round for the third time in the clubs history.

Glebe talisman Jamie Philpot gave the Chislehurst-based side the lead just before the hour mark with his 28^th goal of the season, before Simon Haughney’s men grabbed a last-gasp set-piece equaliser from substitute Elliott Simpson.

Philpot sent his home-town club through to the next round by despatching the ninth penalty of the shoot-out as Hudson’s men progressed 5-3.

Glebe went into the game sitting one point clear of Sheppey United at the summit of the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table with 41 points from 16 games.

Glebe have beaten Coggeshall United (3-1), May & Baker (3-0) and Holmer Green (3-1) on their travels to reach this stage of the competition, while Hanworth Villa’s FA Vase campaign this season lasted 90 minutes, having reached the Fifth Round (Last 16) last season.

Hanworth Villa arrived at Foxbury Avenue sitting at the top of the Cherry Red Records Combined Counties League Premier Division North table, unbeaten in 15 games and with 39 points on the board.

Glebe were 11 games unbeaten in all competitions, while their west London opponents were unbeaten in their last five outings.

“I thought in the first half I thought we were the better side. We had some good opportunities that we didn’t take,” said Hudson.

“I thought we should’ve gone in winning the game, we didn’t and we came out second half and it became a little bit more even but as they came out more because they were a bit of a medium block in the first half, we would get more opportunities and we had two big ones in the second half where we should’ve put daylight between us and them.

“They’re a big side and they’ve got a humongous throw so unfortunately in the 95^th minute ish it dropped for them and they got the equaliser. 

“We deserved to win the game so thankfully the football gods were on our side with the penalties.”

Hanworth Villa were a hard nut to crack and overly relied on set-pieces and striker Sam Merson launched nine long throws into the Glebe penalty area during this disappointing encounter and his fellow attacker Tom Jelley swung in six corners.

Glebe created their first opening inside the opening six minutes when holding midfielder Bradley Wilson fed the ball into a deep Philpot, who fed Lauris Chin and the right-winger scuffed a weak first-time shot straight at Terry Buss from inside the D.

“It was a good move. I thought we were quite fluid in the first half,” said Hudson.

“It’s not easy to pull them apart. They were a 4-2-3-1, almost a 4-5-1 medium block. It’s not easy to break those lines down but I thought we were quite fluid in our approach and we got a bit of success earlier on in our longer passing and they dropped their line even deeper.

“I thought we had control in the first half and that was a good combination to get Chinny in and on another day if he hits that sweet he’s got a good chance of beating the keeper on the edge of the box.”

Hanworth Villa did not press Glebe as the home side played out from the back but the away side went close to scoring in the 13^th minute.

Holding midfielder Gagan Samra ventured forward and chested the ball under control before smacking a right-footed dipping over the crossbar from 30-yards, the ball taking a nick off a defender in the process.

“It was mainly them going more direct from the first phase and picking up seconds. When we picked up the seconds I thought then we had control. On the odd occasion in the first half when we didn’t do that they were combative and they got around the second ball and that’s one of the occasions but it would’ve been one hell of a hit to beat big G (Kamurasi) from where he was.”

Glebe should have taken the lead just a couple of minutes later as they hit Hanworth Villa on the counter-attack.

Wilson played the ball along the deck into left-winger Charlie Penny and Sam Johnson linked up with Chin, who threaded the ball through to Philpot, who side-footed his shot towards the bottom far corner from 10-yards, only for the ball to be cleared by Hanworth Villa’s left-back James Fenlon.

“I thought that was probably the biggest chance of the first half. It was a great counter-attack from us from their corner,” said Hudson.

“I thought it was in to be honest. The way we combined down the left and got the pull-back perfectly for Philpot coming onto it and he got his contact right and it’s a great block off the line. It was a big chance and I thought it was in!”

Hanworth Villa were a disappointing team as they failed to maintain possession (treating the ball like a hot potato) and were relying on set-pieces to trouble Glebe.

“Sam Merson has got an incredible throw! I thought we defended our box really well. It’s flat and it’s long and it’s hard to deal with.  You go from defending seven or eight set-plays in a game and suddenly you’re defending 20 so you have to be even better,” said Hudson.

“Antone Douglas and Kalvin Morath-Gibbs were brilliant but we asked Philpot to attack the ball in our box and I thought he was brilliant today.”

Hanworth Villa gave the ball away in their own half in the 25^th minute as Penny intercepted Michael Kamara’s intended 10-yard pass into right-winger Jerome Federico and Penny released Philpot through on goal but his right-footed shot was placed just past the foot of the left-hand post from 18-yards.

Glebe’s centre-half Antone Douglas also gave the ball away on the halfway line as he ran towards the opposing half with the ball at his feet.

Sam Merson and Federico pressed Douglas and the ball was worked over to Meshach Williams out on the left wing and his angled drive from 25-yards took a deflection and was comfortably gathered by George Kamurasi in the 37^th minute.

Hudson said: “We smothered the transition quite well considering it wasn’t great.  We were quite open when we lost the ball and it ended up quite comfortable.  When we lost it, when one of our centre-halves steps (out with the ball) you’re always worrying about the holes that have been left but I thought we recovered our shape quite quickly and recongised the threat that was there for us.”

Hudson added: “They came with a game plan to frustrate us and to stop us playing through them and it wasn’t going to be a game of many, many chances but we had some good opportunities in the first half.

“It wasn’t easy, they were well-organised and came here and gave us respect by dropping off us and it’s never easy to break those teams down.

“I wanted to work on how we wanted to go around them so we thought we were going to get success from wide areas, that’s where we got success in the first- half by going around them and getting deliveries into the box, so we worked a little bit on that and the game plan changed quite quickly after half-time.”

Glebe’s left-back Matthew Parsons was walking a tightrope for a first-half booking and escaped being sent-off after fouling former Cray Wanderers winger Federico down the right wing and was substituted in the 52^nd minute for Solomon Baugh.

“Matt Parsons was close to a caution and one foul away from the referee being quite card happy, potentially making it a red, so we had to change him quite quickly after half-time,” added Hudson.

Johnson vacated his holding midfielder’s role beside Wilson to slot in at left-back and Johnson was rather involved in an off-the-ball incident with Hanworth Villa's central midfielder Theo Crawford just before the break, which enraged the Hanworth Villa dug-out.

Referee William Douglas discussed the incident with his assistant referee Steven Martin and booked Johnson.

“I also didn’t see it but I’ve known Sam Johnson since he was 14-years-old and he hasn’t got any bad bones in his body,” came Hudson’s reply.

“He’s not going to try doing anybody off the ball. He’s also five foot one. Sam honestly would never do that. He got cautioned for it somehow. I don’t think the ref saw it either.  I could hand on heart say there’s no malice in Sam, so I know there wouldn’t be anything malice.”

A lapse in concentration by Hanworth Villa’s right-back Bruno Tingle let in Philpot, whose clinical finish from 25-yards, drilling a right-footed half-volley screaming past goalkeeper Buss to beat him at his near post gave Glebe a deserved 59^th minute lead.

“He scored a similar one against Erith Town this year where it just dropped for him 25-30 yards out and he’s such a clean striker of the ball and he hits it so early. He caught the keeper out,” said Hudson.

“It’s a little bit of a goal out of nothing but Philpot’s been doing it all year for us. It's a massive goal in the game. The first goal was always going to be.  It’s two good sides in a cup competition, it was always going to be important and he managed to get that.”

Reflecting on his star striker’s career best haul of 28 goals already this season, Hudson replied: “It’s fantastic! If he carries on the way he is, he’s going to be on track for a record-breaking season and it’s only November. We’ve just got to keep him fit.

“His goals are brilliant and the amount of headers he won in our box defending long throws, he’s such a value to the team. He’s so all action in both boxes, it’s huge for us.”

Hanworth Villa offered very little in attack as their often direct style saw them hit too many long balls behind for goal-kicks and when Sam Merson whipped in a couple of crosses into the box, Kamurasi comfortably dealt with them.

However, the introductions of Ben Merson and Simpson in the 72^nd minute, gave Hanworth Villa the extra belief they needed to find a way back into the game.

Glebe wasted a glorious chance to kill off their opponents when Penny released Philpot through on goal down the right channel.

Philpot ignored Aaron Watson in space on the other side of the box and right-back turned centre-half Tingler made a superb goal saving last-man sliding tackle inside the box to thwart Philpot, much to Watson’s frustration, as he was calling out for the ball.

Hudson said: “I think when I watched it in normal play I thought the better option might’ve been Philpot to pass it to Aaron Watson. I think he tried to go on his own but the biggest thing, he got caught in a bit of indecision and therefore delayed and that allowed the defender to get back in and it was a huge chance, he’s through on goal.”

Ben Merson also had a chance to snatch an equaliser but he dwelled too long on the ball inside the Glebe penalty area and the home side got bodies back to clear the danger.

Visiting goalkeeper Buss made a fine tip-over save inside the final six minutes to push over Solomon Baugh’s right-footed dipping free-kick from 30-yards, which was dropping in underneath the crossbar before Buss jumped up and used his right-hand to push the ball over his crossbar.

Glebe went close from the resulting corner, swung in by Wilson from the right, flicked on by Philpot at the near post and Penny ghosted in at the far post to steer his header against the top of the near post from a tight angle.

“Solomon’s got no real right from the angle he had to really test the goalie as much as he did but Sol’s an awesome ball striker. He scored a set-play against Chatham and we trust him with anything around the box,” added Hudson.

“Philpot’s got across his man and got his eyebrows on it and another day that goes in the corner. It didn’t. We had a good third phase run from Penny at the back post and tried to get it back in but the keeper collected it.”

Hanworth Villa started to push men forward during the final embers of the game – even pushing centre-half Kamara up front – to salvage something.

Jelley, now slotting in at right-back, whipped in a cross towards the near post which was met by Sam Merson’s free header, which sailed wide.

“I didn’t see it as a massive chance. He was quite far out and there wasn’t much pace on the ball with the header.  I think if it was on target G would’ve been comfortable,” said Hudson.

“In a cup game they’re going to throw the kitchen sink and the type of team they are they’ve got some big boys and they’ve got a long throw and you’re always going to think what if? Unfortunately that what if moment came literally the last kick.”

Left-winger Simpson whipped in a cross from the left, which skimmed off the head of Glebe’s substitute holding midfielder Nico Lawrence and Kamurasi punched the ball away under pressure and the ball fell to Rory Dacosta, who produced a centre-halves finish by lashing his shot high over the crossbar when left unmarked some 12-yards from goal in a central position.

Hudson said: “I thought it was a foul as well (on Kamurasi), a massive foul.  The thing that goes against George is that because he’s such a big guy referee’s feel like they don’t need to protect him but unfortunately for G is doesn’t get all those decisions all of the time.  It was such an obvious foul. I thought that was probably going to be the end of it.”

But it was almost investable that Hanworth Villa would score from a set-piece, with 49:22 on the clock.

Buss launched a big kick into a crowded Glebe penalty area and the home side had a couple of chances to clear their lines.

The ball came out to Simpson, who hooked a volley screaming through the crowd of players and into the far corner from 25-yards, although Kamurasi dived to his right and got his hand to the shot, he couldn’t prevent Hanworth Villa committing a smash-and-grab raid to take the game to a penalty shoot-out.

Hudson said: “It’s a good hit. I thought G was going to save it but he’s just been clattered.  I think if you’ve made to contest, fair play to him. The ball has come in twenty times into your box from a set-play unfortunately the inevitable will probably drop. We had a couple of chances to clear it before but we didn’t and the kid has had a good hit from the edge of the box and you feel like that’s a real sucker-punch when the final whistle goes as we kick off.”

Penny set the tone, rifling his right-footed penalty high into the roof of the net, just left of centre, to get Glebe off to a good start in the penalty shoot-out.

Kamurasi screamed “earn the right, earn the right,” to Sam Merson, who sent the keeper the wrong way with a composed right-footed spot-kick which nestled into the right-hand corner.

Eighteen-year-old Lawrence sent Buss the wrong way with his right-footed penalty, which was drilled into the bottom right-hand corner.

Ben Merson put Kamurasi on his backside as Hanworth Villa drew level with the fourth penalty, slotted into the left-corner.

Eighteen-year-old Baugh gave Glebe a 3-2 lead when he sent Buss the wrong way with an emphatic right-footed penalty into the right-hand corner.

Kamara lost his bottle with a six-foot-six goalkeeper screaming “MK, MK, MK,  don’t change your mind,” several times at the Hanworth Villa captain, who clipped the top of the crossbar with his right-footed penalty, which he aimed for the top left-hand corner.

It was advantage Glebe when substitute Watson sent the keeper the wrong way, stroking his right-footed kick just left of centre.

Kamurasi screamed out “I’ve been there,” towards Fenlon but the left-back ignored all that nonsense by sending the Glebe keeper the wrong way to find the bottom right-hand corner with his right-foot.

It was now down to Philpot, who emphatically drilled his right-footed penalty into the right-hand corner to give Glebe a deserved win against a Hanworth Villa side that were disappointing throughout the contest in an attacking sense and their game plan was to come here and play for a draw.

“I mean, all I say at the end of the 90 minutes and all the boys will be same, all it was, was positive – we’re going to win this game, that’s our mentality,” said Hudson.

“I back our five penalty takers of which two of them are 18 years old by the way so they had the (courage) to step up and despatch their penalties the way they did.  I thought they took their penalties really well.

“Big G (Kamurasi) is a big target, he’s a big, big target in that goal and he’s good at the mind games and you back G to either save one or get in someone’s head and thankfully it worked for us today. It is a lottery, it is a lottery.”

Hudson added: “I’m really pleased with the boys, we were really positive. We backed they would not score five out of five and I backed that we would.

“Penny’s one to start, the emphatic nature of that gave us a foothold, going first was always an advantage.

“I’m really proud of the two teenagers stepping up and taking pens, it’s not easy, it’s nerve-wracking and it was teed up for Philpot to finish it at the end and we wouldn’t want a better penalty taker, apart from his penalty at Erith & Belvedere.

“The nerve of Aaron Watson and Philpot to finish it, yes, I’m really, really pleased.  Over the course of the game, I thought we deserved it.”

Third Round ties take place on Saturday 11 December, but before that Glebe are at home to Erith & Belvedere (London Senior Cup Second Round) on Tuesday night (19:30) and at home to First Division side Lydd Town in the Kent Senior Trophy Second Round on Saturday 27 November.

Hudson then takes his side to Dartford to play Welling Town (Tuesday 30 November) before a big clash against fellow promotion challengers Sheppey United at Holm Park follows four days later.

“We want to keep momentum as much as possible but we’ve also got boys that have been patient for game time.  We’re going to need our squad this year so I’m sure we’ll asses the boys tomorrow and we’ll look at Erith & Belvedere and Lydd in the week but it gives us a little bit of a chance to rotate,” revealed Hudson ahead of the two County cup ties.

“In the form we’re in, we want to keep going in the league but we go into every game wanting to win it and we want to be as successful as we can on all fronts this year so we’ll have a good go and see if we can continue two wins out of two before we go into a huge week against Welling and Sheppey.

“The league’s a priority, there’s no doubting that. We’ve got a good squad and we’ll go as far as we can in all competitions that we have but definitely the league.”

Glebe: George Kamurasi, Dami Olorunnisomo, Matthew Parsons (Solomon Baugh 52), Bradley Wilson (Nico Lawrence 88), Kalvin Morath-Gibbs, Antone Douglas, Charlie Penny, Sam Johnson, Jamie Philpot, Ryan King-Elliott, Lauris Chin (Aaron Watson 58).
Subs: Reginald Rose, Emmanuel Shoderu, Peter Wedgeworth, Ainsley Everett

Goal: Jamie Philpot 59

Booked: Matthew Parsons 16, Sam Johnson 45, Aaron Watson 90

Hanworth Villa: Terry Buss, Bruno Tingle, James Fenlon, Gagan Samra (Elliott Simpson 72), Michael Kamara, Rory Dacosta, Meshach Williams (Ben Merson 72), Theo Crawford, Sam Merson, Tom Jelley, Jerome Federico (Jamie Thoroughgood 90).
Subs: Jordan Ellis, Leon Solomon, Jordan Williams

Goal: Elliott Simpson 90

Booked: Theo Crawford 20, Gagan Samra 54

Attendance: 75
Referee: Mr William Douglas
Assistants: Mr Craig Wood & Mr Steven Martin