Fairwater 6-4 Ely Rangers: Ten-goal thriller sees Water claim cup shock
Fairwater progressed to the next qualifying round of the Welsh Cup as they win in a ten-goal thriller against Ely Rangers in a match that finished 6-4 at Poplar Park.
Casey Warren’s side, ranked three divisions below the South Wales Alliance League outfit outscored their Cardiff West rivals in an entertaining cup tie.
Fairwater had held a two-goal lead at the break after new recruit Andre Phillips opened the scoring from the spot, which was matched by Ryan Harris, but Daniel Evans and James Fish were on target to restore parity.
They then had to deal with a scare from substitute Darren Townsend, but Evans struck once more, as well as Fettah to put Fairwater into a commanding position.
Townsend did strike once more, as well as Luke Trezise, but ultimately their efforts were in vain, unable to prevent a Cup shock.
The action started immediately with a penalty as Fish was brought down by an Ely defender, making for an easy decision for the referee. Phillips stepped up and slotted the ball into the bottom left corner as the home side surprised the away team with an early goal.
Three minutes later, Ely got a penalty of their own as Caton was brought down. Ryan Harris took the mantle and his strike went straight down the middle for the equaliser.
Fairwater wouldn’t be on level terms for long though as they retook the lead. A shot from the left flank by Ryan Hocking hit the crossbar and the rebound went straight to Daniel Evans to slot hit home.
They then doubled home their advantage as a rebounded shot from Phillips went straight to Fish to blast home a strike to the bottom left corner.
In the second half, the Water were in dreamland as former Canton Liberal man Phillips was on the score sheet again. The trickster had a shot from just outside the box and went past Ashley Hart to give the host a three-goal lead.
In search of inspiration, Steve McCarthy-Campbell introduced Alliance League hotshot forward Townsend into the action.
He made an inspired impact, firing home a half-volley from just inside the box to test Fairwater’s nerves.
But Evans had other ideas and matched Townsend’s effort with a similar strike, rustling a shot into the right-hand corner.
Fettah, a relation to Canton Liberals keeper Aaron, who won on Friday, was introduced for two-goal Phillips who was denied his hat-trick. He merited the substitute though finishing with a composed strike.
There would be more goals to come in what wasn’t a guide to defending with the goals breached on a number of occasions.
Ely would set up a grandstand finish as Townsend would find the net again with a looping header.
They would also receive another penalty for a handball which they delivered on. The introduced Trevise slotted his spot-kick into the corner but there would be no late comeback.
Fairwater: Deryn Tobutt, Dylan Shepard, Conor Cusack, Matthew Noyes (C), Daniel Evans, Andre Phillips (Jay Fettah, 64), Aiden Crimmins, James Fish, Benjamin Matthews, Nike Benson, Ryan Hocking (Craig Radford, 76)
Goals: Andre Phillips 9, 57, Daniel Evans 20, 78, James Fish 38, Jay Fettah 84’
Ashley Hart, Ethan Caveney (Sean Kelly, 69), Nathan Evans, James Corrigan, Nathan Williams
Ely Rangers: Mathew Kimmins, Jacob Morgan, Luke Trezise, Ryan Harris (Darren Townsend, 60), Teejay Clayton, Ryan Boyles (C).
Goals: Ryan Harris 10, Darren Townsend 65, 86, Luke Trezise 90’
Yellow Card: Nathan Evans 31, Darren Townsend 80’
