Season 2017-18 - Second Round Proper

Sunday 3^rd December 2017

Coventry City 3 Boreham Wood 0

Goals from Duckens Nazon, Marc McNulty & Jordan Shipley helped see Coventry City into Round Three of the Emirates FA Cup after a hard fought win over a physical Boreham Wood at the Ricoh Arena.

The hosts came into this one after seeing off Maidenhead United from the Vanarama National League in Round One whilst Boreham Wood had caused a big upset after the Vanarama National Leaguers came from behind to dump League One Blackpool out of the competition.

So League Two Coventry were the slight favourites although many expected this tie to be rather close and Wood win could not be ruled out.  And it was the visitors who had the first effort in the opening minute when Dan Holman struck an effort wide.

However the opening quarter hour was a fairly quiet affair and the next opening didn’t arrive until midway through the half when the visitors saw Bruno Andrade find space but saw his effort blocked, and the visitors were certainly giving their league two hosts plenty to think about.

But it was the hosts who were to break the deadlock in the 27th minute with their first attempt on goal, as Nazon played in McNulty and although his effort was saved, Nazon followed up to fire the loose ball home and the Sky Blues had a slender advantage.

This didn’t deter the non league visitors though and on the half hour only a superb block by Haynes prevented Andrade from shooting at goal, and eight minutes before the break a visitors corner dropped behind Ricky Shakes, but he could only hook over the goal.

And six minutes before the break the hosts made them pay by making it two goals from two attempts as Nazon turned provider this time, playing the ball through to McNulty and the keeper came to try and get the ball, change his mind and backtrack, but McNulty lofted it perfectly over his head and into the net.

Wood looked to respond and three minutes before the break looked to counter but Andrade’s effort was saved by Burge, and then right on half time the hosts saw a Shipley free kick evade everyone and go behind.

Five minutes of stoppage time were then added on and saw the hosts attack through Stevenson who slid in McNulty, and he in turn played in Shipley, but his effort was saved, and then Nazon saw a long range effort saved by Smith as the hosts finished the half strongly.

But it was those goals from Nazon and McNulty that saw the Sky Blues go into the break with a two goal cushion although the visitors probably felt a tad hard done by to be two behind at the half.

Half Time Coventry City 2 Boreham Wood 0

Wood knew they needed the next goal to harbour realistic hopes of a comeback and two minutes into the half saw Holman curl a shot wide for the visitors, however a minute later City made it three when Shipley netted his first Ricoh Arena goal, tapping home a McNulty ball across goal, and the hosts had that all important third goal.

In the 53rd minute Shipley struck a free kick inches wide as the Sky Blues threatened to end the contest with a fourth, whilst down the other end Andrade saw a shot comfortably saved by Burge.

The hosts took their foot off the gas for a time and saw Wood with a fair amount of possession again, and with fifteen minutes left almost found a goal back when Andrade put in a terrific ball across the six yard box and saw it almost turned in at the back post.

City responded and saw Biamou strike against the post before Haynes saw an effort from range saved by Wood keeper Smith as the Sky Blues looked to put more gloss on the scoreline, and with six minutes left Grimmer fired an effort towards Smith, who saved.

Coventry then saw Haynes put a ball towards the back post which was met by Vincenti who saw his effort saved, and the final chance of the contest came deep into stoppage time and saw Biamou somehow head wide.

However it mattered not as the hosts had done enough to see off a battling Wood outfit to progress into Round Three of the famous old competition.

Full Time Coventry City 3 Boreham Wood 0

Here are some photos of the day:-

So it’s the Sky Blues who progress into the third round and their reward was another home tie, this time against Premier League opposition in the shape of Stoke City, potential for an upset their and the first time in this cup run that City have been underdogs, maybe they will prefer this, who knows.

Anyway here is the Second Round Proper results in full:-

Friday 1^st December

AFC Fylde 1 Wigan Athletic 1

Saturday 2^nd December

Notts County 3 Oxford City 2

Milton Keynes Dons 4 Maidstone United 1

Port Vale 1 Yeovil Town 1

Shrewsbury Town 2 Morecambe 0

Stevenage 5 Swindon Town 2

Bradford City 3 Plymouth Argyle 1

Gillingham 1 Carlisle United 1

Forest Green Rovers 3 Exeter City 3

Fleetwood Town 1 Hereford 1

Sunday 3^rd December

Woking 1 Peterborough United 1

Newport County 2 Cambridge United 0

Wycombe Wanderers 3 Leatherhead 1

Doncaster Rovers 3 Scunthorpe United 0

AFC Wimbledon 3 Charlton Athletic 1

Mansfield Town 3 Guiseley 0

Gateshead 0 Luton Town 5

Blackburn Rovers 3 Crewe Alexandra 3

Coventry City 3 Boreham Wood 0

Monday 4^th December

Slough Town 0 Rochdale 4

Tuesday 5^th December

Replays

Peterborough United 5 Woking 2

Yeovil Town 3 Port Vale 2 (aet)

Wigan Athletic 3 AFC Fylde 2

Exeter City 2 Forest Green Rovers 1 (aet)

Wednesday 13^th December

Replay

Crewe Alexandra 0 Blackburn Rovers 1

Thursday 14^th December

Replay

Hereford 0 Fleetwood Town 2

Tuesday 19^th December

Replay

Carlisle United 3 Gillingham 1

With Hereford losing their replay on Thursday 14^th December against Fleetwood Town it meant that no non league sides will be in the Third Round Proper for only the second season in the history of the competition.  The only other season this occurred was in the 1950/51 season, so that is  rather disappointing to say the least. 

Anyhow here is the Third Round Proper ties in full as we are now joined by the big boys from the Premier League and Championship:-

Friday 5^th January

Liverpool vs Everton

Manchester United vs Derby County

Saturday 6^th January

Fleetwood Town vs Leicester City

Middlesbrough vs Sunderland

Ipswich Town vs Sheffield United

Watford vs Bristol City

Birmingham City vs Burton Albion

Aston Villa vs Peterborough United

AFC Bournemouth vs Wigan Athletic

Coventry City vs Stoke City

Bolton Wanderers vs Huddersfield Town

Yeovil Town vs Bradford City

Brentford vs Notts County

Queens Park Rangers vs Milton Keynes Dons

Exeter City vs West Bromwich Albion

Doncaster Rovers vs Rochdale

Blackburn Rovers vs Hull City

Cardiff City vs Mansfield Town

Manchester City vs Burnley

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Swansea City

Stevenage vs Reading

Newcastle United vs Luton Town

Millwall vs Barnsley

Fulham vs Southampton

Wycombe Wanderers vs Preston North End

Carlisle United vs Sheffield Wednesday

Norwich City vs Chelsea

Sunday 7^th January

Newport County vs Leeds United

Shrewsbury Town vs West Ham United

Tottenham Hotspur vs AFC Wimbledon

Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal

Monday 8^th January

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Crystal Palace

Some rather tasty ties in that round, my featured game comes from the Ricoh Arena for the third round running as Coventry City host Premier League Stoke City, I may even try and get to a game on the Sunday, chiefly the Tottenham Hotspur vs AFC Wimbledon clash at Wembley Stadium, we shall see!!!  That concludes this blog for now, back in a couple of weeks or so with a blog of the third round.