Buckhurst Hill 0-1 Welwyn Garden City | FA Trophy Preliminary Round | Attendance: 125
By Anthony Mercer
Buckhurst Hill’s first-ever venture into the FA Trophy ended in a narrow 1-0 defeat to Southern League side Welwyn Garden City on Saturday. The hosts started brightly and created several early chances against a nervous Welwyn defence.
After just four minutes, captain Ollie Williams headed narrowly over the crossbar. Seven minutes later, an excellent cross from the impressive Callum Maltese found Arthur Massingham, whose header drifted just wide of the post. Williams was involved again on 16 minutes, but his effort sailed over the bar as Buckhurst Hill continued to apply pressure. Welwyn Garden City had their first significant chance after 20 minutes when Mendes was played through on goal, only to shoot wide.
The visitors gradually grew into the game, although the contest became increasingly stop-start due to a series of fouls. Buckhurst Hill made early substitutions after the interval in an attempt to maintain their momentum. However, it was Welwyn Garden City who broke the deadlock when
Nick Ralfe fired home following a well-worked move involving Ryan Hayes. Just two minutes after the goal, Tyler Dolan came close to levelling the scores, but his effort was brilliantly saved by Connor Sansom. Late in the match, Welwyn’s Luis Cantello was shown a red card for violent conduct, giving Buckhurst Hill hope of a late equaliser. In the closing stages, substitute
Sam Ince found fellow substitute Bradleigh Rowland, whose effort went wide. Moments later, Dimitri Nicolaou saw his header drift agonisingly past the post as the hosts pushed for a dramatic leveller.
Despite their efforts, Buckhurst Hill were unable to find a way through and exited the FA Trophy at the first hurdle.
They now turn their attention to another cup fixture on Wednesday evening, when they travel to Basildon Town in the Essex Senior Cup.
Buckhurst Hill Team
North, Foster (Edwards 75), Fernandez, Williams, McQueen, Brown, Maltese (Ince 46), Nicolaou, Dolan (Rowland 83), Zuhdu (Temple 60), and Massingham (Gnandi 70).