Report by Jools Thomas

A close range header from Danny Gordon, early in the second half, was the difference between the teams although FC could and maybe should have won by a greater margin against their more senior Premier Division opponents.

FC were dealt a blow in the warm up when James Weatherill was injured with young understudy Mathieu Varnica filling in as replacement. Varnica’s first piece of action was to see a Curtis Ujah header fly wide after a few minutes. Tony Little sliced a promising chance wide on the quarter of an hour mark as both sides made a cautious start to proceedings.

Ben Bateman had the first real chance of note for FC on 17 minutes. His turn and shot lacked the accuracy however and never really troubled United’s Shane Gore in net. Ben Batemen had another golden chance to score when put through by Gareth Price however the midfielder leaned back as he shot and this meant his shot was rifled over. Ashley Smith put Varnica under pressure at the other end before the first real big opportunity to break the deadlock. A teasing ball into the box was punched away unconvincingly by Gore to striker Brian Haule. With the keeper in no man’s land, Brian had just to sweep the ball into an empty net. Instead a rush of blood to the head occurred and the big man fired wide.

FC fans may have thought those gilt edged chances were all they would get in the match but luckily this was not to be. The excellent Gareth Price found space and time throughout the half and to say the Chesham defence were mercilessly teased by his quick thinking is to put it mildly. His cross in the 48th minute caused panic and this was the precursor to the winner. An Aston Goss corner from the right was met powerfully by a rising Danny Gordon and despite pressure, the cool centre back headed home much to the delight of the fans amassed behind the goal.

Brian Haule turned and shot 10 minutes later but the power fizzled out and Gore managed to claim. Sam Youngs hit a high shot over as he attempted to redress the balance and Youngs followed this up by forcing Varnica into his first real save of the game, a low parry after a penalty box melee. Danny Gordon blocked Dave Pearce’s goalbound effort but the Moles’ defence coped well with every threat.

Gareth Price and Jeanmal Prosper worked well together to put in a cross that the industrious Ben Bateman just failed to connect with. As Ben tired, he was replaced by Jamie Rud to add zip to the attack. A penalty claim by Chesham was waved away with Gareth Price breaking clear in classic counterattack football only for him to smash his shot skywards.

FC had a penalty claim of their own on 84 minutes, for what appeared a handball in the box and as the minutes ticked down, FC found more and more space as Chesham were spent as an attacking force. Attacks by Davis Haule, Rob Tomlin, Prosper and Price might have brought more luck on another week.

As the referee blew time, it was the opportunity for players and fans to celebrate the cup win and write another episode in the history of this football club.