Greens to visit Linnets in FA Vase

After the win, clinched by Liam Bartley’s second-half penalty, manager Richard Daniels said: “It was a battle but we thoroughly deserved to win.” (Picture on p61).

He added praise for the performances of centre-half Jack Herbert, young keeper Jack Whatmough and Thomas Daniels, making his return after illness.

King’s Lynn joint boss Kevin Boon says he won’t take the Greens lightly.

The United Counties League Premier Division high-flyers will be favourites against the Ridgeons Division One side at The Walks, but Boon only has to recall the home clash with Great Yarmouth Town in the second qualifying round to sound a cautionary note.

“We mustn’t take anything for granted because it’s Gorleston,” he said. “Look what happened when we played Yarmouth – they came with a game plan and for the first 30 minutes it was clear they had done their homework on us and they did very well.

“Any club which gets a home draw favours themselves a bit, but not after the Yarmouth game – the only time I will relax is when the whistle goes at quarter to five.

“I’ve watched Gorleston a fair bit over the last two or three years and whoever is in charge they have always played good football.

“Gorleston will come and play, and that’s what I like about them. To be fair, I think Gorleston have one of the best youth set-ups, bringing players through to their first team. It will be a good game – they will be well organised and they will be well prepared.

“It is a great relief to be at home – we shouldn’t fear anyone really, but it is cup football and we have seen over the years in the FA Cup, the FA Trophy, the FA Vase there are big surprise and nobody wants to be on the receiving end.”

This week Gorleston travel to Saffron Walden Town, writes David Hardy.

This should prove a tough game against eighth-placed Walden who are one place and two points behind the Greens but with two games in hand. The Bloods have beaten two of the current top three sides in the league already this season.

Gorleston 1, Hadleigh 0

Thomas Daniels and Peter Lambert returned to the starting line up following injuries and, in goal, 17-year-old youth team keeper Jack Whatmough replaced the unavailable Elliot Pride to make his debut.

Hadleigh began the stronger and could have taken the lead in the fifth minute when a shot slid under Whatmough, but the keeper managed to take the sting out of it and was agile enough to turn and grab the ball on the line.

Five minutes later Peter Lambert had a chance when Liam Bartley broke from a Hadleigh corner, but his shot was saved.

Craig Payne timed his run to beat the offside but Whatmough narrowed the angle and superbly palmed the shot wide.

Lambert then played a one-two with Mitch Forbes but Lambert was challenged as he shot.

Gorleston were growing into the game and Thomas Daniels and Gary Williams created the next chance, linking well on the left but Williams’ shot lacked accuracy.

Hadleigh could have taken the lead in the 39th minute when Ollie Canfer ran unchecked into the Greens’ box but he put his header wide.

Then it was Bartley who was set free by a long Sean Blowers ball but his attempted lob was held by the keeper.

Just before the break Gorleston got lucky when a Hadleigh break down their right saw the ball played in to the box but Ben Deacon

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chose to dummy instead of shooting and the Greens cleared.

In the second half Lambert volleyed over the bar and then Deacon at the other end had an attempted curler pushed round the post by Whatmough.

What proved to be the winning goal came in the 58th minute. As a Gorleston free-kick seemed to be drifting over everybody Jack Herbert was tripped.

Despite Hadleigh protests the referee awarded the penalty which Bartley dispatched with aplomb.

Hadleigh responded well to the setback, and became even more direct, pressing Gorleston back.

The Greens were relying on counter-attacks and Bradley Hough, who had replaced Lambert to make his first Gorleston start, could have done better when Gorleston broke three against two but he chose to shoot from a long way out instead of playing in wide men breaking on both sides.

Whatmough again saved from a Simon Hyde header with 14 minutes to go to keep his side ahead and it was backs to the wall for a tense last 10 minutes, and over five minutes of time added on.

Gorleston, though, were up to the challenge and, thanks to some scintillating defending from Herbert and captain Eddie Thompson, and some no-nonsense defensive clearances, it was the Greens into the hat for the second round draw.

Gorleston: Jack Whatmough, Sean Blowers, Tom Daniels (DJ Kareche 69), Gary Williams, Jack Herbert, Eddie Thompson, Chris Sandford, Liam Bartley (Danny Mitchell 73), Mitch Forbes, Steve Taylor, Peter Lambert (Bradley Hough 57).

Norwich United Reserves 4, Gorleston Reserves 2

The Reserves travelled to Plantation Park on Saturday and put in a very lacklustre performance resulting in a 4-2 defeat, writes Paul Williams.

Norwich United went ahead after only 90 seconds and were 2-0 up two minutes later and from then on Gorleston faced an uphill battle.

Gorleston’s first effort on target came midway through the first half as they were awarded a penalty for handball but the keeper saved well from Chris Southern’s effort.

Jacob Short finally forced the ball into the hosts goal after a strong run into the box but apart from these efforts Gorleston had no other chances during the first half, and went in at the break 2-1 down.

Simeon Randell replaced Southern at half-time due to illness and with no other strikers on the bench goalscoring opportunities were at a premium in the second half even though Dane Whiteley scored his first for the club to bring the Greens level.

Norwich United scored two goals late on but Gorleston got what they deserved from this game which was absolutely nothing.

Reserves: Keith Soloman, Chris Bond, Jonny Watt, Joel Clements, Laurence Taylor, Jacob Short, Callum Webb, Elliot Hannant, Dane Whiteley, Jack Garrod, Chris Southern, Simeon Randell, Scott Butler, Paul Williams.