FC Romania 2-3 Faversham Town - Our quality today was very good, we've won 3-2 but we'll take that but I think it could've been a lot more, says Faversham Town joint-manager Jermaine Darlington

FC Romania 2 – 3 Faversham Town
Location	Cheshunt Stadium, Theobalds Lane, Cheshunt, Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire EN8 8RU
Kickoff	25/09/2022 15:00

FC ROMANIA  2-3  FAVERSHAM TOWN
The Isuzu FA Trophy Second Qualifying Round
Sunday 25 September 2022
Stephen McCartney reports from Theobalds Lane

FAVERSHAM TOWN joint-manager Jermaine Darlington says he wants to plant the picture on his side winning one more tie to reach The FA Trophy First Round for the second successive season.

The Lilywhites produced a surprise 1-0 win at Chichester City in the First Qualifying Round before controlling large parts of this tie at FC Romania.

Ryan Maxwell’s side went into this tie having beaten Woking-based side Westfield 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw, and they grabbed the lead through striker Mitchell May here today.

However, Faversham Town levelled through Toby Bancroft’s sublime curler before fellow midfield diamond man Bradley Schafer tucked home the rebound after his penalty was saved by FC Romania goalkeeper Tommy Dixon-Hodge.

FC Romania came back into the game during the second half, before Schafer notched his third goal of the season from the penalty spot before substitute Ernest Murmyio capitalised on some poor defending from Bancroft to make the final 15 minutes a nervy affair.

The home side went into this game in fifteenth-place in the Southern League Division One Central Division table with five points from as many games, while Faversham Town arrived in Cheshunt sitting in the bottom three in the Isthmian League South East Division table with one win in six league outings and having picked up back-to-back league defeats to VCD Athletic and Ramsgate.

“A fair result, I think,” said Darlington, 48.

“We made it hard for ourselves at times but from the start of the game we were excellent. 

“Again, just a lapse in concentration lets them to get the goal but up until then we were the better side.  We were creating the more chances and even after the goal it looked like we were going to be the only winners.

“We made it hard for ourselves towards the end with a mistake but the lads dug in and grinded out the result in the end. It should’ve been more than a 3-2 result.

“When things change in your routine, sometimes something like this playing on a Sunday can throw you but the lads turned up and they played professionally.  They stuck to the game plan but they gave us mainly discipline because we’ve lacked that a bot of that at times in previous games during the season.” 

However, Faversham Town started the game on the front foot, with a midfield diamond that dominated the key battleground.

Left-back Joshua McFaull clipped the ball down the line for striker Junior Aikonbare, whose sublime first touch saw him take the ball on from close to the half-way line and into the FC Romania final third before his right-footed rasping drive was tipped over the bar by Dixon-Hodge after only 45 seconds.

“As a team we know that’s what we can do and that part of the game we’ve got no problems with, it’s just the defensive side.  Sometimes we lacked a bit of concentration,” added Darlington, who was delighted with his side’s attacking play.

“When we see football like that, you can’t do nothing but admire it, so we just hope we can continue to do that and keep pushing on as a team.”

Schafer’s resulting corner was hit deep towards the back post where centre-half Matthew Bourne steered his effort just past the near post from a very tight angle.

Faversham Town continued to dominate and missed a glaring chance inside seven minutes.

Connor Wilkins (at the base of the diamond) played the ball into striker Jake Embery, before the impressive Nathan Wood (at the top of the diamond and behind strikers Embery and Aikhonbare) all linked up before Embery sprayed the ball out to unmarked left-back McFaull, who lacked composure inside the box steered his first time left-footed drive harmlessly wide with only the keeper to beat.

“Well, that’s a defender for you, do you know what I mean?” added Darlington.

“We just want our players in every game, every training session, that they’re learning and they improve and that will come because if we play like that we will create chances and the boys will be used to getting in those positions more and hopefully getting used to finish.”

Darlington explained why he deployed a midfield diamond, a system that sometimes leaves part-time footballers confused but Faversham Town got it right with a dominant first half performance in that key area of the pitch.

He said: ”We needed to be a little bit more compact in the game, not leave ourselves open, so that diamond shape allows us to have that extra man in midfield, which we’ve worked on.  Today, the boys showed if we play it right, you can cause teams a hell of a lot of problems.”

While Faversham Town produced some impressive patterns of play on the deck, FC Romania were more direct in their approach.

Holding midfielder Ekou Owusu-Boayke played a sublime through ball to put May in behind but his stinging drive was straight at visiting keeper Leighton Fanshawe, the 21-year-old stopper making a comfortable save.

“That’s what keeper’s are there for! When we make mistakes they make up for it for us,” added Darlington.

“We’ve got to make sure that we don’t give people chances like that but Leighton’s done his job today.”

Wood’s intended inside pass for McFaull was intercepted by FC Romania’s right-back Luke Edgar and he fed winger Michael Paraskevopoulos, who cut the ball back from the by-line and the Lilywhites cleared their lines.

Faversham immediately countered with Wood, before Embery played the ball inside to Aikonbare (who was unplayable when the score was goal-less) and his right-footed shot on the turn was comfortably gathered in Dixon-Hodge’s midriff.

FC Romania grabbed the lead, however, with 17 minutes and 55 seconds on the clock.

They bundled their way into the final third before attacking midfielder Darnell Luke stabbed the ball through the centre-halves to put May through on goal and his left-footed clinical finish from 16-yards nestled inside the bottom far corner.

Darlington said: “Listen, teams are going to have their time in the game. We’ve just got to learn to cope with that.  Again, it’s communication, it’s organisation, it's organisation which nullifies those kinds of chances and that’s just something that we need to work on.”

A poor throw out by Fanshawe went straight to Luke, who took a touch before his right-footed shot from 30-yards wasn’t going to beat Fanshawe, who stepped to his left to grab hold of the ball.

The opening goal of the game gave the home side renewed confidence and they should have done better following their first corner in the 26^th minute.

Ryan Ramsey’s left-footed inswinging corner came in from the right and the ball was cleared as Fanshawe was flapping at his back post and the ball came out to Luke, who smacked his right-footed volley screaming over the crossbar from 16-yards.

Faversham Town weathered the brief storm and equalised with 28 minutes and 58 seconds on the clock.

Bancroft drilled the ball out to the left where Embery easily cut inside into the FC Romania penalty area before playing the ball back to Bancroft.  He took two touches and with the third, curled a sublime left-footed shot into the top far corner from 16-yards, over the outstretched fingertips of the diving home keeper.

“Toby’s got that quality to do that. At times he loses his head sometimes but today he had a cool head and finished it well, from a good move,” said Darlington.

Referee Matt Ball awarded Faversham Town a penalty when Paraskevopoulos clipped Wood and sent him crashing to the ground.

Schafer had two bites of the cherry, as Dixon-Hodge was desperately unlucky not to pull off a fine double save.

Schafer’s drilled right-footed penalty was saved by the keeper’s legs but he had a second bite of the cherry and poked the rebound beyond the keeper, who used his legs for the second time but couldn’t prevent the ball trickling inside the bottom left-hand corner.

Darlington said: “Up until that point we had a good few shouts for a penalty, before that we had a few good chances.  Luckily, the penalty went in at the end, which then put us more on the front foot, which I think just shows our quality today was very good.”

A penetrating run from the impressive Wood saw him cut past Edgar and his left-footed drive flashed across the keeper and just past the far post.

The home side then built-up well down the left with Elliot Kettle and Ramsey linking up before Ramsey floated in a cross towards May, who rose and looped his free header into Fanshawe’s gloves.

McFaull moved inside and hit a ball down the right wing to release Wood, who whipped in a low cross towards the near post and Embery’s first-time shot was saved by Dixon-Hodge’s legs.

Wood remained on the right wing and overhit a cross which was retrieved by Embery, who cut the ball back towards the very edge of the box and Aikonbare went down under Luke’s challenge.

Dixon-Hodge lined up a four-man wall and was relieved when Wood’s right-footed free-kick crashed off the crossbar as Wood tried to whip his free-kick into the top left-hand corner from 18 and a bit yards from goal.

“Listen, the lads are here because they’re quality players and that’s what they offer us,” said Darlington.

“Nathan has come in, he hasn’t played for a while and he’s come in and you wouldn’t know he hasn’t played for a while and that’s what he offers us. He’s got a bit of imagination in free-play and he can do things like that.”

Darlington was delighted with his side’s impressive and dominant first-half performance.

“Well, I just said to them, ‘look, we can’t keep coming in disappointed because the first-half performance was excellent,” he said.

“They needed to go out there and prove that they can play how they have up until that point.

“We knew they were going to get a reaction from them at half-time because we were all over them and they didn’t have many chances.  I just said ‘look, as long as you just compete with them with whatever they throw at us’, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t win this game.”

Maxwell certainly had words inside the home dressing room at the interval as FC Romania came out in more determined mood and started to dominate the middle of the pitch and press Faversham, a side who play out from the back.

“He (Maxwell) had to do something didn’t he because our midfield was running the game and I think we still continued to have good possession and good control of the game up until the last sort of 15 minutes when they changed their system,” added Darlington.

Clear-cut chances were at a premium during the early exchanges as Faversham weren’t allowed to play their free-flowing football of the first half.

The home side created an opening in the 18^th minute following their third and final corner.

Left-back Kyan Gulliver hung over a corner towards the back post where centre-half Rimmel Daniel steered his header wide.

Edgar, who liked drilling long balls forward from his right-back position, got down the channel and put over a cross, which was cleared out to Owusu-Boayke, whose snap shot from 30-yards, was comfortably saved by the Faversham keeper.

Good cutting in play from McFaull saw him reach the edge of the FC Romania box and he fed a short pass to the hardworking Embery, who reached the corner of the six-yard box before being sent to the ground under a clumsy tackle from Daniel.

Schafer held his nerve, stroking his right-footed penalty just left-of-centre, sending the keeper the wrong way to give Faversham Town a deserved two-goal lead with 21 minutes and 29 seconds on the clock.

“What can I say,” laughed Darlington.  “You’ve explained it all, haven’t you?

“The next goal was always going to determine the end result.  I think the scoreline could’ve been more than that, the scoreline doesn’t actually reflect the actual game, so we’ve won 3-2 but we’ll take that but I think it could’ve been a lot more.”

Aikhonbare sprung back into life before he was substituted and stole the ball off Gulliver before playing a 20-yard through ball for Wilkins, who brought the ball down well before hitting a right-footed rasping drive which was beaten away by Dixon-Hodge.

Faversham Town gifted FC Romania their second goal of the game, timed at 29 minutes and 46 seconds.

The home side didn’t press the Lilywhites back-four during the first half but two players hunted down Bancroft just outside his penalty area.

Murmyio pounced on the mistake and despite Fanshawe diving to his left and getting his fingertips to the shot, the Faversham keeper couldn’t prevent the ball tricking into the bottom right-hand corner.

“We’ve given away a goal again and we’re hanging on but that shows the concentration and determination of the boys that we didn’t lose the game,” said Darlington, who will stick with their playing-out-from-the-back philosophy.

“Well, up until that point, that’s what we’ve been doing and we played that well. If we’re asking them to do that and they make a mistake, that’s on us but we’re going to continue to do that,” insisted Darlington.

“We just have to make sure when we do play out that we stay focused and we play within the structure of how we want to play.

“Toby’s taken an extra touch that he didn’t need to, which is why he got caught but like I said that’s how we want us to play, so we ain’t going to change that.  They’ve got to keep continuing to be brave, even when they do make a mistake like that, continue to be brave because throughout the game it showed that we can do it and we were comfortable.”

The home side almost snatched an equaliser just 175 seconds later.

Edgar drilled a long ball down the line, substitute striker Rueben Bartlett-Ankeui cut into the box and his low right-footed angled drive was comfortably held by Fanshawe, smothering the ball low to his right.

Darlington said: “Listen, that’s football, isn’t it? We aint going to dominate the game for 90 minutes, they’re going to have their chances and they’re going to have their shots but that’s why the eleven players are out there because they’re good players and they’re their to do a job and that’s why Leighton is there for.”

FC Romania could now smell blood and with all three of their subs on the pitch, sub right-winger Samuel Adetiba was a threat with his pace.

Faversham Town did create chances on the counter-attack too.

Schafer pinged a diagonal 30-yard pass towards an unmarked Wood, who took a touch and lacked composure by shooting straight at Dixon-Hodge, the busier of the two goalkeepers.

Bancroft clipped a ball into the FC Romania penalty area, centre-half Charne Lemba sliced his woeful clearance to an unmarked Embery, who dragged his left-footed shot across the keeper and past the far post when well placed.

“That’s something that we definitely need to work on,” revealed Darlington.

“First half, I think the game should’ve been dead and buried. Second half, did we take the chances? No, I think the scoreline could’ve been a lot bigger.”

Both sides had a chance each during stoppage time.

Edgar launched a throw towards the edge of the Faversham box where May chested the ball down before hitting a left-footed shot on the turn from 25-yards, which was comfortably held by Fanshawe, low to his right for the second time.

Schafer missed a chance to score his hat-trick when Gulliver and Daniel allowed him to cut along the by-line and into the six-yard box before he smashed his shot straight at the keeper.

Faversham Town have scooped £3,750 in prize money for their two away FA Trophy wins and one more win will put the club in the First Round for the second successive season.

Darlington admitted he didn’t know about the club’s history in this competition.

“We’re trying to go as far as we can. A lot of clubs at this level, it’s something that the clubs want to do.  We basically go out wanting to win every game, whether it’s a cup game or a league game, whatever it is, that’s our aim.  We’re through to the next round, so hopefully we’ll win that and go onto the next round.

“I didn’t know that (the clubs FA Trophy history), that’s a good target then isn’t it?  We’ll put that in the players’ minds but we’ll take it game by game and see where we go.”

Faversham Town welcome Isthmian League Premier Division side Margate to Salters Lane in the Kent Senior Cup First Round on Tuesday night.

Andy Drury’s men are in sixteenth-place in the pecking order with eight points from seven games and lost 5-2 at home to Enfield Town yesterday.

“It’s against Margate, so it should be a tough game but if we perform like that, like we did today, I don’t see no reason why we can’t get a result.”

Faversham Town then welcome Sevenoaks Town to Salters Lane for a league game on Saturday, a side immediately above them in the table, with one more point but with a game in hand.

“I haven’t thought that far forward.  I take each game as it comes.  We’re not looking that far ahead.  Our next game is Margate in the Kent Senior Cup, so once we get past that, we’ll start thinking about the next game.

“It’s early but I think up until this point we should be a lot higher than what we are.  We showed a lot of how we can play today and in previous games I’ve seen that come out. It’s always been a positive but I admit, I expected to be a lot higher. If we can continue to stop making the mistakes than there’s no reason why we can’t climb up the table.”

FC Romania: Tommy Dixon-Hodge, Luke Edgar, Kyan Gulliver, Ekou Owusu-Boayke, Rimmel Daniel, Charne Lemba, Ryan Ramsey (Rueben Bartlett-Ankeui 57), Elliot Kettle (Ernest Murmyio 71), Mitchell May, Darnell Lake, Michael Paraskevopoulos (Samuel Adetiba 71).
Subs: Mohammed Dabo, Myles John, Euphraphy Kalonga, Ross Basunela

Goals: Mitchell May 18, Ernest Murmyio 75

Faversham Town: Leighton Fanshawe, Danny Rumbol, Joshua McFaull, Connor Wilkins, Matthew Bourne, Daniel Carrington, Toby Bancroft, Bradley Schafer, Jake Embery, Junior Aikhonbare (Tom Carlton 73), Nathan Wood.
Subs: Olbanji Dauda, Jono Richardson, Tom Bryant, Kevin Masindo

Goals: Toby Bancroft 27, Bradley Schafer 34, 67 (penalty)

Attendance:  47
Referee: Mr Matt Ball
Assistants: Mr Patrick Yates & Mr Robert Poole