On Tuesday night Windsor travelled deep into Buckinghamshire to play Aylesbury Vale Dynamos in the first competitive fixture of the 2020-21 season, the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round. Windsor’s recent record in the competition had seen them exit at this stage in 4 of the last 5 seasons, whereas Dynamos made it to the Preliminary Round in 2019/20 which was their only previous campaign in the competition.
Windsor could and perhaps should have been behind within the first minute as the home side attacked down the left-wing and the ball was squared to Dynamos striker Mason-Williams whose vicious shot somehow missed the target when it looked easier to score.
The early scare sparked Windsor into life and they began putting pressure on the home side’s defence, and that pressure paid off in the 9th minute when the Royalists took the lead. A ball over the top caused panic in the backline and Davis in the Dynamos goal rushed out of the area to clear the ball, but under pressure from Adam McNamara the keeper ended up picking out Bill Montague whose first time lobbed shot found the back of the net from 30 yards.
After the first 15 minutes, the first half became more even with both sides having moments where they looked dangerous but neither side creating much in the way of clear-cut chances. Mark Cooper’s side went in at the break 1-0 up and he would have been very happy with the half, except for the first minute.
Windsor came out after the break with renewed purpose and were well on top for the first 10 minutes of the half. They won an early corner which was met by George Gould whose powerful header was straight at the keeper. Shortly afterwards McNamara went through but a heavy touch gave Davis just enough opportunity to snaffle the ball at the striker’s feet. Then after good work from Corey Parchment on the right Montague met a cross and perhaps should have done better but the striker couldn’t get a shot away. The ball broke to the left and Sam Coles had a good effort saved by Davis.
The Dynamos seemed to be on the rack but a quick break upfield saw the ball squared to striker Lewis Workman, who somehow put a shot wide from 5 yards out. Suddenly the game had turned, and the pressure was all coming from the home side who had a goal ruled out for offside and saw a lobbed effort go wide with Nojus Trinovas off his line. Workman then had another glorious opportunity as Trinovas misjudged the flight of the ball and the striker found himself on the corner of the six-yard box with the goal gaping but could only fire wide.
Midway through the breathless half, the game became more end to end. A Coles cross was spilt, and Ben Mulley was unable to turn in the rebound before Montague got to another Coles cross just before the defender and won a penalty. Having drawn the foul Montague took the spot-kick himself and drilled the ball into the bottom corner to give Windsor a 2-0 lead with 20 minutes to go.
In the last 15 minutes of the game, the home side piled on the pressure looking for something to get them back into the contest. Their efforts were rewarded with 8 minutes to go as substitute Darnell Ramsey cut in from the left and his deflected shot flew past Trinovas to make it 1-2.
There was suddenly tension in the air, and a game that had had a fair bit of needle came close to erupting when Dynamos won a throw on and one of the Windsor subs kicked the ball away much to the home sides annoyance. This led to all 22 players and both subs benches running over and getting involved in an altercation, but gladly it was mostly posturing rather than anything serious. Both managers and the offending substitute ended up being given a yellow card.
Despite continued pressure from Dynamos, Windsor held out and recorded a good victory in a full-blooded and competitive cup tie. The Royalists will now travel to face Southern League Division One Central side Wantage Town in the FA Cup Preliminary Round on 12th September.
All the Tuesday night FA Cup results, and Preliminary Round draw are available here.
