March 2012/13: Achieving the Double

 After being crowned Combined Counties Premier League Champions in February, we were looking to get into the final of the Isthmian Ryman League Cup, and at least the Semi-Finals of the FA Vase.

Our first game of the month was against Hampton & Richmond Borough, in the 2nd Leg of the Isthmian Ryman League Cup Semi-Final, and we had a 1-0 lead on aggregate from the 1st leg.

We made 10 changes, with some new names in both the Starting XI, and on the bench, with

P. Nzuzi, new signing Nathan Koo-Boothe, Raphael Branco, A. Legg, D. Fazlic, A. Ahmed, M. Johnson, 

D. Bembo-Leta, V. Pericard, and new signing Jon Nurse, replacing S. Jenkins (Per), B. Gayle (Per), 

J. Anderson (Per), T. Williams (Fit), N. Durrant (Per), J. Baldwin (Per), D. Lee (Per), L. Head (Fit), 

M. McCammon (Per) and R. Limb (Fit). New signings Manny Panther, David Freeman and Scott Dobie also made the bench.

Starting XI: M. Ranieri, P. Nzuzi, N. Koo-Boothe, Raphael Branco, A. Legg, D. Fazlic, A. Ahmed, M. Johnson, D. Bembo-Leta, V. Pericard, J. Nurse

Subs: S. Locke, N. S. Galinski, M. Panther, D. Freeman, S. Dobie

Hampton gave us a scare early on, when he put the ball in the back of the net from Simmonds' free-kick, but  the linesman flagged for off-side, and the goal was ruled out. Noble pulled it level on aggregate for Hampton, with a curling shot from the edge of the box, and he was helped thanks to poor keeping from Ranieri. Pericard put us back in-front on aggregate in the 63rd minute, when he was able to intercept a poor backpass, and slot the ball past the Hampton keeper. Moone then put the ball into the back of the net with his head in the 70th minute, however, his goal was disallowed for offside. We then had to play the last 20 minutes with 10 men, as Tom Williams picked up an injury, just after we used our last substitution. We got a penalty a couple of minutes later, when Pericard was pulled down by a Hampton defender, and the referee pointed to the spot. Adnan Ahmed stepped up to take it, and put the ball right into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance, and doubling our aggregate lead.

This was a great result for us, with the only downside being the injury to Tom Williams, but we were in the final!

Final score: Wembley (3) 2-1 (1) Hampton & Richmond Borough

We would be playing the Isthmian Premier League's Kingstonian in the Isthmian Ryman League Cup Final

Our next game was against Dorking in the Combined Counties Premier League Division

We made 4 changes to the starting XI, with S. Galinski, S. Opinel, new signing Craig Easton and S. Dobie replacing N. Koo-Boothe (Per), T. Williams (Fit), D. Fazlic (Fit) and V. Pericard (Fit) with new loan signing from Burnley, Archie Love, making the bench.

Starting XI: M. Ranieri, P. Nzuzi, S. Galinski, Raphael Branco, S. Opinel, C. Easton, A. Ahmed,
M. Johnson, D. Bembo-Leta, J. Nurse, S. Dobie

Subs: S. Locke, N. Koo-Boothe, M. Panther, A. Love, V. Pericard

We got off to an awful start, with Mirko Ranieri unfortunately putting the ball into his own goal in the 1st minute, after a Dorking free-kick rattled the crossbar, before hitting Ranieri on the back, and rolling over the line. Jon Nurse got his first Wembley goal, pulling us level, in the 6th minute, when he was played in by Scott Dobie, before curling the ball into the top corner from 12 yards. Bembo-Leta then scored his 20th league goal of the season, putting us in-front in the 38th minute, when he received the ball from Johnson, before taking the ball around two defenders and placing the ball past the keeper, and into the bottom corner. Scott Dobie then scored his first Wembley goal in his first start, after receiving the ball from Nurse, and slotting the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. Sam pulled a goal back for Dorking, when he was able to dribble the ball past 3 defenders, before placing the ball past Ranieri. Dorking's Darren Armstrong got sent off after picking up a second yellow card for a foul on Love in the 79th minute.

This was a good win, seeing as though we gave them a head start early on.

Final score: Dorking 2-3 Wembley

Our next game was against St. Helens Town in the FA Vase Quarter Finals, and we were looking to get into the Semis.

We made 6 changes to the starting XI, with N. Koo-Boothe, T. Williams, A. Love, D. Fazlic, L Head and V. Pericard replacing S. Galinski (Fit), S. Opinel (Per), M. Johnson (Fit), C. Easton (Fit),
D. Bembo-Leta (Fit), S. Dobie (Per).

Starting XI: M. Ranieri, P. Nzuzi, N. Koo-Boothe, Raphael Branco, T. Williams, A. Ahmed, A. Love,
D. Fazlic, L. Head, V. Pericard, J. Nurse

Subs: S. Locke, J. Anderson, M. Panther, T. Williamson, R. Limb

Grimes almost put St. Helens in-front, when his curling free-kick hit the inside of the post, before bouncing across the face of goal, and then was cleared by Koo-Boothe. Vincent Pericard gave us the lead in the 38th minute, when Head's cross found him at the far post, and he was able to head the ball into the back of the net. Ahmed was then brought down in the box, and the referee awarded the penalty. Ahmed got straight up to take the penalty, and slotted the ball into the top corner, just out of the reach of the St. Helens keeper. Cooke then put the ball in the back of the net for St. Helens, however the goal was ruled out for offside.

A good win to send us into the FA Vase Semi-Finals!

Final score: Wembley 2-0 St. Helens Town

Our next game was against Horley Town, who were sat in 19th place in the league.

We made 3 changes to the starting XI, with C. Easton, M. Panther and D. Bembo-Leta replacing
A. Ahmed (Fit), D. Fazlic (Fit) and L. Head (Per).

Starting XI: M. Ranieri, P. Nzuzi, N. Koo-Boothe, Raphael Branco, T. Williams, C. Easton, A. Love,
M. Panther, D. Bembo-Leta, V. Pericard, J. Nurse

Subs: S. Locke, J. Anderson, D. Fazlic, M. Johnson, R. Limb

Craig Easton scored his first Wembley goal in the 19th minute, when he received the ball from Bembo-Leta and hit the ball from the edge of the box, and into the back of the net. Bembo-Leta then doubled our lead, when he received the ball from Nzuzi, and thanks to poor anticipation from the Horley keeper, Bembo-Leta was able to pass the ball into the open net. Pericard extended our lead even further, when he was able to bring down Ahmed's corner, and buried the ball into the bottom corner.

This was a good win, and once again, we showed how good we could be in both attack, and defence.

Final score: Wembley 3-0 Horley Town

Our next game was another league game, this time against 7th placed Camberley.

We made 5 changes to the starting XI, with S. Locke S. Galinski, A. Legg, D. Fazlic, M. Johnson and R. Limb replacing M. Ranieri (Rot), Raphael Branco (Fit), T. Williams (Fit), C. Easton (Fit) and
V. Pericard (Fit)

Starting XI: S. Locke, P. Nzuzi, N. Boo-Koothe, S. Galinski, A. Legg, D. Fazlic, A. Love, M. Johnson,
D. Bembo-Leta, J. Nurse, R. Limb

Subs: M. Ranieri, J. Anderson, D. Freeman, A. Ahmed, S. Dobie

We got off to a flyer, when Matt Johnson gave us the lead in the 2nd minute, with a good effort from outside the box, right into the bottom corner. Jon Nurse doubled our lead, when he was able to take the ball past two Camberley defenders, before slotting the ball past the keeper in the 32nd minute. Green pulled it back for Camberley in the 42nd minutein the 42nd minute, when his mishit cross hit the inside of the post before hitting the back of the net. Camberley's Shaun Wimble then headed a cross into the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed for a foul on Locke.

This was a good win overall, with Locke performing well in goal, and extending our unbeaten run.

Final score: Camberley Town 1-2 Wembley

Our next game was against Sunderland Ryhope in the FA Vase Semi-Final 1st Leg, and with the Isthmian Ryman League Cup only three days away, we needed to balance the squad well.

We made 7 changes to the starting XI, with M. Ranieri, S. Jenkins, J. Anderson, C. Easton, A. Ahmed,
S. Dobie and L. Head replacing S. Locke (Per), P. Nzuzi (Fit), S. Galinski (Inj), M. Johnson (Fit),
D. Fazlic (Fit), D. Bembo-Leta (Fit) and R. Limb (Fit)

Starting XI: M. Ranieri, S. Jenkins, N. Koo-Boothe, J. Anderson, A. Legg, A. Ahmed, A. Love, C. Easton, S. Dobie, J. Nurse, L. Head

Subs: S. Locke, Raphael Branco, D. Freeman, M. Panther, D. Bembo-Leta

Andy Legg almost gave us the lead in the 24th minute, when his 25 yard free-kick was saved well by the Sunderland keeper. Liam Head gave us the lead in the 50th minute, with a strong half-volley following Nurse's knock-down from Ahmed's long ball forward. Nothing much else happened, with both teams missing half chances, and the game finished.

This was a good win for us, against a team in a higher league, and it gave us a good platform for the second leg.

Final score: Wembley 1-0 Sunderland Ryhope

Our next game was against Kingstonian FC, and was in the Isthmian Ryman League Cup Final, and was a return for Jon Nurse, to Barnet's Underhill Stadium!

We made 7 changes to the Starting XI, with P. Nzuzi, Raphael Branco, T. Williams, D. Fazlic, M. Johnson,
D. Bembo-Leta and V. Pericard replacing S. Jenkins (Per), J. Anderson (Per), A. Legg (Per),
A. Ahmed (Per), C. Easton (Per), S. Dobie (Per), L. Head (Fit)

Starting XI: M. Ranieri, P. Nzuzi, N. Koo-Boothe, Raphael Branco, T. Williams, D. Fazlic, A. Love,
M. Johnson, D. Bembo-Leta, V. Pericard, J. Nurse

Subs: S. Locke, J. Anderson, C. Easton, A. Ahmed, R. Limb

Matt Johnson gave us the lead in the 29th minute, with a scorching 20 yard, half-volley from Bembo-Leta's through-ball, right into the top corner. Sheppard pulled the game level for Kingstonian in the 37th minute, when he was able to beat Raphael Branco in the air, and head the ball past Ranieri from Scannell's corner. Vincent Pericard put us back in the lead in the 79th minute, when he was able to pick up the pieces from Bembo-Leta's saved shot, and poke the ball into the open net. It looked as though Matt Johnson had doubled our lead, after he headed in Ahmed's free-kick, however the linesman raised his flag, and the goal was ruled out for offside.

And that was it! A great win against Kingstonian who were in 2nd, two leagues above us, and we were two thirds of the way to the treble!

Final score: Kinstonian 1-2 Wembley

March was another great month for us. It was a month where we got a 100% record, and we were able to add another piece of silverware to the trophy cabinet, acheiving the double after winning the Isthmian Ryman League Cup.

We were involved in the cups more than he league this month, but we were still able to pick up 9 points from a possible 9, and get our point tally over 100!