Ah, the magic of the FA Trophy! Maybe that phrase doesn’t have quite the ring of “the magic of the FA Cup”, but for semi-professional players and their clubs at Step 4 and above, this competition is now their best opportunity to test themselves against higher-ranked teams, to cause an upset, and to have their day at the national stadium. Tim Sills and Josh Carmichael experienced all that for Alex Pike’s Gosport in 2014.
Back in the ‘70s Weymouth twice reached the quarter-finals of this competition, while the furthest Wimborne have gone was the Second Round Proper under James Stokoe four seasons ago when, after winning at Thame and Weston-super-Mare, they lost to lower league Larkhall.
After relegation from National South last season, The Terras and their supporters have endured a disappointing start to this campaign. Four points from their opening five fixtures (a 2-0 win at Plymouth Parkway, and a 1-1 draw at the Bob Lucas Stadium with Bracknell), culminating in that 3-0 defeat at The Wyatt Homes Stadium on August Bank Holiday Monday, led to the departure of manager Warren Feeney. Fans favourite Steve Claridge was quickly installed as his replacement, but results have taken a while to improve under his leadership: a 4-2 defeat at Step 5 Tadley Calleva in the FA Cup, a goal-less home draw with Hanwell, a 1-1 draw at Taunton, and home losses to Gloucester (3-0) and Gosport (2-0) before Saturday’s morale-boosting 4-1 win over Tiverton when The Terras raced out of the blocks to be three up after 14 minutes with Tom Bearwish bagging a brace. It was a second consecutive sub-600 crowd at the Bob Lucas, but hopefully crowd numbers will increase again after that result. It was a result which leaves our Dorset neighbours sitting 17th in the early Southern Premier South table with a W2 D3 L5 GF 11 GA 17 record.
Tim Sills’ Wimborne are sitting 5th with a W4 D3 L2 GF 16 GA 10 record. Their unbeaten run at The Wyatt Homes Stadium of Havant & Waterlooville (3-1), Uxbridge (2-2), Weymouth (3-0), National South Bath City in the FA Cup (2-1), Evesham (1-1), and Plymouth Parkway (3-2) was ended by National South Worthing in the FA Cup (3-0) on Saturday.
Now that Max Bustamante and Drew Eccott-Young have returned, Sills will just be missing Joe Ryan and Seung-Woo Yang. He has cleverly rotated his small squad to keep legs fresh, but Josh McQuoid and Will Fletcher, who both scored against Weymouth on that hot August afternoon, will want more of the same, while the talented Ajani Burchall will be pushing for a first start.
Although Claridge has brought in four players: the returning Brooklyn Genesini and Euan Pollock, and loanees Max Davies (Bristol City) and David Mantel (Coventry), in an interview in the Dorset Echo last week, the new manager expressed his frustration at not being able to recruit more to replace the five he has let go. There could be some additional recruits for this game to line-up alongside former Magpies Matty Burrows and Oakley Hanger.
Last season, The Magpies were knocked out at this stage of the FA Trophy in a penalty shoot-out (8-7) after drawing 2-2 at Gloucester City. The Terras, then National South, came into the competition at Round Two and won 3-2 at Weston-super-Mare, then 2-1 at National League Yeovil, before bowing out 2-1 at home to Boreham Wood in Round Four.
If scores are level after 90 (ish) minutes, there will be a penalty shoot-out. The 64 winning teams from this round battle it out in the First Round Proper on 25th October before being joined by the 48 Step 2 teams from the National League North and South for the following round.
The Dorset-derby league match against The Terras five weeks ago was full of incident, passion, and good football. But Wimborne will face a different Weymouth this time. This trophy tie has all the ingredients of being a cracker. You won’t want to miss it, so come on down, and cheer on Tim’s team. After all, it’s what Saturday afternoons were made for.
Match Info:
- There will be additional catering facilities available on Saturday as a large crowd is expected.
- As there’s limited parking at the ground in Ainsley Road BH21 2FU, if you can travel by bus, bike, or on foot it would be really helpful. However, if you do decide to travel by car and park on the nearby streets, please do so respectfully to our neighbours.
- The Morebus no.13 runs along Leigh Road from and to The Square in the town centre with stops at the bottom of Parmiter Road, a five-minute stroll from the ground.
- There is a bike park near the players’ entrance.
- A packed printed programme will be on sale.
- Admission: adults £14, concessions £8, U18s £5, U13s £2. Please note that season tickets are not valid for FA competitions.
- Weather Forecast: Sunny intervals; 15oC; 50% chance of rain
- Prize Money: winners £2,450, losers £625
