The Whites booked their place in the quarter-finals of the North Wilts League Cup but did not have things all their own way against a South Cerney side from two divisions below.
The visitors were flattered by the two-goal interval lead given to them by a pair of clinical finishes from George as Cerney showed greater desire both in and out of possession in the first period. While the Colts fashioned the better chances, with Tom charging through before being denied by the keeper, Brandon H seeing a volley tipped wide and Luke S almost forcing the ball home from close range, they were kept on their toes at the other end by their fast-breaking opponents. Bradley and Callum showed pace and tenacity to keep the home team at bay and Max’s handling was, as usual, impeccable – although he was beaten by a shot on the stroke of half-time that came back off the crossbar.
A change in formation at half-time helped the Colts seize control of the midfield and Max emerged from goal to put the game beyond Cerney with two brilliant strikes – the first a shot from the edge of the box into the top corner and the second a terrific half volley. Brandon H’s sublime backheel almost played him in for a third goal as Colts’ passing and movement improved across the park.
Matthew broke through to add a fifth for the away side after going close on a couple of occasions and, after Cerney scored the goal their performance deserved, George weaved his way into the box from the right to complete his hat-trick and the Colts’ half-dozen.
Luke S donned the gloves in the second half and made an important save at 2-0, while also distributing the ball well. Callum was strong in the challenge and used possession wisely, while Bradley took a couple of opportunities to bomb down the left flank and saw a shot hit the side-netting. Toby was instrumental in some of the visitors’ best moves in the first half and provided a good outlet on the wing and Liam F showed fine positional awareness and was always unselfish when he found himself on the ball in the final third of the pitch.
A clutch of fellow Division 1 teams await in the draw for the last eight of the competition, when the Colts will need to step their performance level up a notch or two in order to progress any further.