By IW Observer.co.uk
East Cowes Vics 3 v Shanklin 1
In a week of ‘what might have beens’, Wessex League’s East Cowes Vics came from a goal behind to beat fellow Islanders, Shanklin 3-1, under floodlights in the midweek Gold Cup quarter-final. Shanklin’s George Carter-Knight opened the scoring on 20 minutes, curling a right foot shot past keeper Alex Ram.
Shanklin competed throughout the first half and would have been disappointed to concede on the stroke of half-time when Vics’ skipper, Liam Newbold, dribbled through the heart of the visitors’ defence to slot past keeper, Chris Page, and level the scores.
On the hour, a controversial decision, by ref Colin MacFarlane, saw a contested penalty awarded for a foul in the Shanklin penalty area, with Shanklin’s keeper sin-binned for arguing, and Ryan Gregory, sending makeshift keeper, Iain Seabrook, the wrong way for 2-1.
In an increasingly incident-filled match, the ref booked and sin-binned players from both sides, sending off Vics’ Liam Newbold for grabbing and fighting with Shanklin’s Wayne Newnham in the penalty area.
Vics’ Harrison Yates coolly finished to make the score 3-1 with the last kick of a match that sees Vics in the semi-finals of the Gold Cup.
Brading Town 3 v Stoneham 5
Brading will be looking to win their Gold Cup match at home to Whitecroft & Barton this weekend, following their defeat at home against Stoneham in the Hants Trophy.
Trailing from an early goal, they levelled through Barry Calvert on the half-hour, but the energy and organisation of the visitors saw Stoneham pull away for a 3-1 half-time lead.
The visitors extended their lead just after the break, and Jacob Treagus was on hand to knock in for the Romans to narrow the deficit to 4-2. This was short lived when Stoneham scored again, but Brading continued to battle and skipper, Dan Vale, scored a deserved consolation goal in the 90th minute to see Brading lose 5-3, with Stoneham facing Shanklin in the final on Saturday, April 23.
Isle of Wight Observer