OXLEY Vale Attunga Mushrooms had to work hard to overcome East Armidale in Sunday’s first round FFA Cup clash in Tamworth.
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The reigning Northern Inland Football Premier League first grade champions beat Easts 3-1 at Johnson Field in Tamworth on Sunday.
Luke Purcell’s diving header was followed by a Tim Sweeney strike and then a brilliant goal from 15-year-old Jack Diebold, while Simon McLennan pulled one back for the Easties.
“Jack’s goal was a cracker, great for the young kid on debut,” said OVA coach Tim Coates.
“It was also great to see the boys back on the paddock under the leadership of Chris Fenton.”
Fenton played despite a couple of chipped bones in his foot.
“It was a good game of football,” Coates said.
“They (Easts ) are a good side.
“They are a team to follow this year.”
Mark Gwynne is coaching Easts and he was disappointed in the result.
“The first half we had 85 per cent of the ball.
“We had five or six chances but couldn’t score. They had two and scored both. That was the difference.
“We have to learn from that but we do have a lot of good young kids. They will improve.”
Brendan Hatte and Josh Clark were two of the best for East.
Brendan Fergie, Tom Hungerford and Tim Sweeney all had strong games at the back for the Mushies.
“The back three were all outstanding,” Coates said.
“Troy Keyte had a big game too. It was a good club win, had a couple of local players filing in too. Nathan Kasch played the last 25 minutes for us and went well too.”
OVA’s win earned it a second round match up against Tamworth FC at Johnson Field this Sunday.
The winner of that game goes straight into the NIF Cup Championship match, round 4 of the FFA Cup.
Meanwhile North Armidale Redmen play South Armidale Scorpions in Armidale on Sunday in their second round FFA Cup match after the Redmen beat Gunnedah United 3-2 at Johnson Field on Sunday.
They will play the Scorpions at Doody Park from 3pm Sunday after the Scorpions beat Inverell’s Joeys FC 7-6 (4-3 on penalties) on Sunday.
Ben Worth and Zac Reevesby both scored for Gunnedah United while Declan Drewitt, Andrew Magann and Chris Kelly all struck for North.
“It was a good hit out for us,” said North Armidale coach Andy Lennon.
“I was a little bit worried about our fitness but they did well.”
Gunnedah United coach Richard Grant also welcomed the FFA first round match as a “good hit out” for his team.
“On top of last week’s Acropolis Cup that was good for us,” Grant said.
“Our boys can only benefit from that and we can take a lot of positives out of it.”
He said his side will return to Tamworth for the Jan and Kevin Johnson Memorial Shield on Saturday.
Michael Cooke, Matt Chappell and Rob Pryor impressed Grant on Sunday.
FFA CUP FIRST ROUND
North Armidale 3 d Gunnedah United 2, South Armidale 7 d Inverell Joeys FC 6 (4-3 on pens), North Companions 2 d Demon Knights 1, OVA 3 d East Armidale 1, Tamworth FC 2 d TAS 0. This Sunday: North Armidale v South Armidale (3pm Doody Park, Armidale), OVA v Tamworth FC (3pm Johnson Field, Tamworth), North Companions bye.
