GYTFC v  Histon FC.  Saturday 26th August 2023.    Report by Martin Baxter.

 

On a late summer Saturday Yarmouth took a break from league action to face Histon FC in the FA Vase in what looked like being a tough assignment against step 5 opponents.  

 

Histon have had a poor start to their campaign in the United Counties league and were looking to kick start their season in this cup tie against a Bloaters side without a win in their last 3 matches.  

 

Yarmouth made 5 changes from Wednesday evenings draw with Diss Town as Cork, French, Fenn, Spooner and Belmar were all in the starting eleven and they got off to a positive start taking the game to their opponents and in the 11th minute took an early lead when a cross from the right by Belmar found Fenn who had the time and space to slot the ball home from close range to put the underdogs on the day 1-0 up.

 

Just 2 minutes later Belmar had a shot at goal himself this time, which was deflected out for a corner, and the away side found themselves under a bit of early pressure as the Bloaters went looking for that crucial 2nd goal to give them a cushion.

 

When Histon did push forward they were being repeatedly caught offside and were not dealing well with the off-side trap that Yarmouth had clearly set for them and were getting a little frustrated with the fourth officials flag. 

 

The turning point in this first half came in the 27th minute when a Yarmouth defender was adjudged to have placed a high kick on a Histon striker in the box and the referee pointed to the spot and the subsequent penalty was dispatched by Tunner to make it 1-1.   

 

This equalizer gave the away side a real lift and they started to assert their physical superiority in the centre of the park and were now playing very direct football which Yarmouth were struggling to deal with and in the 39th minute a shot from Ruddy following a mistake in the Bloaters defence made it 2-1 to the visitors. However a minute later a cross from Fenn sailed right across the 6 yard box just missing the toe of Couzens by a matter of inches to almost make in 2-2.      

 

However the seemingly killer blow came just before the break when a high cross in from the right ended up going into the net off of the head of a Yarmouth defender to make it 3-1 and leave the home side with a mountain to climb in the 2nd half.

 

Half Time: Great Yarmouth Town 1  Histon 3.

 

The 2nd period started with Histon on top and in the 47th minute following a free kick they had the ball in the net again , however this time it was ruled out for offside and the Bloaters were just about still in this battle, and the next goal would be crucial!

 

Yarmouth then had their first opportunity of the 2nd half when Belmar hit a volley from 12 yards that very narrowly missed the target and it was now end to end stuff.

 

The game then entered a scrappy phase where the referee seemed to be blowing up all the time and this over boiled on 58 minutes when Histon defender Smith was sinned binned for dissent and his side were now down to 10 men for the next 10 minutes.  

 

As the penalty awarded in the first half had changed the game the Histon player being sin binned and reducing them to 10 men had exactly the same effect as in then 59th minute Couzens was tripped on the edge of the box and stepped up himself to clinically convert the resulting penalty to make it 2-3 and it was now very much game on.

 

Still with only 10 men on the pitch Histon found themselves under the cosh and it was no surprise when in the 66th minute Fenn lobbed the keeper with a superb flick from 15 yards out out that sailed into the empty net to make it all level at 3-3 and with Yarmouth very much now on top the large crowd in the Wellesley were really getting behind them as their 12th man.

 

The weather then took a turn for the worst as the heavens opened up with torrential rain accompanied by thunder and lightning and both sides struggled to play football in such atrocious conditions, however as this fantastic cup-tie looked to be going to a penalty shoot out both sides had one last chance to win it in normal time, firstly Belmar found himself in a great position to win the match for his side, but he somehow missed the target from 5 yards out and then Histon went up the other end and Rolph found himself in a similar position and he was able to find the target and send his team into the draw for the next round of the FA Vase.

      

Full Time:  Great Yarmouth Town  3  Histon FC, 4 . 

 

GYTFC:  Lane, Halliday Duffileld, Cork, Philpott, French, Fenn, Wilson-Towns, Couzens, Spooner, Belmar.  Subs: Akpan, Barber, Stanley, Sanders.

 

Man of the Match: Jesse Fenn.