Felixstowe & Walton United FC

FELIXSTOWE & WALTON UNITED  5 - 0  NEW SALAMIS

Seasiders go top following breathtaking performance

Previously unbeaten Isthmian League newcomers New Salamis were blown apart by a scintillating performance by a Felixstowe & Walton United side that showed a ruthless streak that perhaps has been missing in previous seasons, a performance and result that put the Seasiders top of the fledgling league table.

Felixstowe welcomed back Henry Barley to the starting eleven after injury, with Harry Knock at the heart of defence following his recent permanent signing from Ipswich Town. The visitors included forward Derek Asamoah, a former professional at Carlisle United, Lincoln City and Shrewsbury Town.

A minute’s silence was observed and the National Anthem played as a mark of respect to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. 

It was clear from the first whistle that Felixstowe were keen to set the tempo of the game and gain control in the middle of the park, they did this quite brilliantly and it was one-way traffic from the off. Noel Aitkens came close to the opener after just 2 minutes, his long-range piledriver from 20 yards just skimming the left post after some great build up play from Lamell Howell. A minute later and it was Aitkens this time turning provider as he set up play on the right and found Callum Harrison in a good position, Harrison turning and shooting wide of the post. Felixstowe’s early dominance was rewarded on 7 minutes, Lamell Howell broke forward and was bundled over in the box as he was about to shoot, up stepped Callum Harrison with the penalty, his shot was low and hard but the goalkeeper guessed correctly to save down to his left but could only send the loose ball back out to Harrison who fired in the rebound to give the Seasiders a deserved lead. New Salamis were struggling to make any impact in the game at all but finally found a way forward on 12 minutes, Asamoah came inside from the left and sent his 22-yard effort just over the crossbar. If the visitors task was already looking difficult, it was looking near impossible on 22 minutes as the away side were reduced to ten men, Jandir Jose rightly seeing red for a high challenge on the edge of the area. Harrison fancied the resulting free kick but his low shot was saved comfortably by Olajide. Henry Barley came close to doubling the Seasiders advantage on 25 minutes, first seeing his curling effort deflected just wide, and then from the corner kick, leathering the ball towards the goal from the edge of the area but seeing his blistering shot go agonisingly inches over the bar. Felixstowe were forced into a change on 35 minutes, Zak Brown unable to run off a strain, with Ollie Canfer coming on to the field. His impact was instant as he doubled the lead within a minute to finish a fantastic move. Noel Aitkens spread the ball to the right, Callum Bennett put across a perfect cross into Canfer who laid it off with his chest before receiving it back in order to smash the ball through the goalkeeper from 10 yards. Harrison sliced just wide on 38 minutes as the pressure continued. New Salamis were given a decent opportunity to finally get into the game on 45 minutes as they won a free kick in a central position, 23 yards from goal, there were loud cheers as the effort from Skandari flew way over the bar and troubled the checkout staff in Tesco in Hamilton Road more than Callum Robinson! Two minutes into first half injury time and it was 3-0, Callum Bennett with another superb delivery in to Canfer whose shot was saved by the body of the keeper before rebounding out to an unmarked Callum Harrison on the left who fired into the empty net.

New Salamis found a higher gear for the first 5 minutes of the second half, without creating too much, before Felixstowe once again grabbed the game and didn’t let go for the remainder. Harrison shot just over from 20 yards on 50 minutes as he looked for his hat-trick, before Ollie Canfer joined him on two goals 3 minutes later, a bullet cross from the right was met by Canfer in the box and he expertly headed into the far side of the net to finish off any last resistance that the visitors may potentially have mustered. Canfer didn’t have long to wait for his hat-trick, that came on 66 minutes, 31 playing minutes since his introduction to the field, and once again it was superb goal to finish off a flowing move from a rampant Felixstowe side, Canfer in the right place at the end to poke the ball under the keeper and into the gaping goal. Harrison fired just over on 70 minutes as the game slowed with Felixstowe happy now to play the ball around and preserve some energy for Tuesday’s big game at Sudbury (Now postponed due to an FA Cup replay). The visitors had their best chance of the match on 72 minutes, Richard Ennin finding space on the right to get into a great position and force a good low save from Callum Robinson, who had been largely redundant thus far. Substitute Harry Blackburn came closest to a sixth goal, his shot from the edge of the area on 75 minutes producing a decent save from Olajide. From there on, no further chances were created by either side, New Salamis no doubt disappointed with their performance after such an impressive start to the league campaign, and Felixstowe more than happy with their five goals and three points as they saw out the game with ease to rise to the top of the Isthmian North.

Seasiders Manager Stuart Boardley was understandably delighted with his side. “I thought it was a thoroughly dominant performance really, we got hold of the game from minute one, and unlike possibly, the Felixstowe of last season, we were ruthless, and that allowed us to get up into that position where we were two or three goals up and then manage the game from there. The really pleasing thing for me was the clean sheet, those are the types of games where at half time you can drop your levels a bit, and that was the challenge to the lads at half time, to go on and win by a comfortable margin rather than drawing the second half. The fourth goal highlighted that well, at that time in the game, if they had got it then they would have thought they had a sniff, but we knew if we got it then it was practically game over, so it was a good time to score that and we then managed to keep those levels up, albeit the game slowed at the end as it became a bit of a dead rubber with the score line. We realised early on that they were going to sit back and try and absorb the pressure, they are a very athletic, fit, quick side, and have had a great start to step 4 football, but I was a little surprised to be honest at how deep Salamis did sit, even when they had eleven men, but our early goals killed that tactic and they had to come out a little bit and we punished them from there.”

Report by Stuart Daynes

Photos by Stefan Peck

Team Line-Ups Here

Photo Gallery Here