Written by Andrew Madaras
Photos by Liam Smith
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. The man in question, Sean Immanuel, who’s 89th minute winner broke the brave resistance of Norwich CBS FC who had defended with great determination and resolution for the second half.
A credit to their Club and to the Thurlow Nunn League, their players had done their jobs superbly and were only minutes away from taking this Isuzu FA Vase 1st Round tie to penalties.
Mr Immanuel’s predatory goal scoring instincts though were to prove decisive. The poacher’s instincts, best exemplified by Lee Roache from the class of 2012, were there for all to see as Ethan Creary calmly squared the ball from a yard or so out for Sean to steer the ball home.
His intervention was key last week to the Blues securing a precious away point at Leverstock Green and seven days later history repeated itself with his introduction as a second half substitute again deciding the outcome of the game.
This wasn’t a classic. Blues supporters needed to be patient particularly as the seconds ticked away. Norwich had gone ahead from a corner on 8 minutes as the Blues defence hesitated and got themselves in a quandary. It was a slow start from the home team who could have been on level terms a few minutes later when Tolu Ikuyinaminu couldn’t quite get the ball from under his feet.
In between those incidents, Norwich again worked a corner well with Charlie Jones needing to get down to a header at his near post.
Dunstable were still in 3rd gear when Joe Sellers-West turned on a sixpence and volleyed home from just inside the area. The ball hitting the post before crossing the line.
Supporters who may have expected the Town to purr through the gears might have been disappointed as Norwich re-grouped and defended stoutly.
The away side were reduced to 10 men when Jaden Snelling was shown a red card by referee Harry Price for an incident opposite the dugouts. Snelling has been a prolific goal scorer for Norwich this season, scoring nine from eleven games.
His red card severely denting Norwich’s potency up front.
Blues Head Coach, Joe Deeney, rang the half time changes. Joe Mead & Isaac Olaleye were replaced by Remell Stirling & Ruari Mills.
Within a minute of the restart, Kelvin Osei-Addo acrobatically met a cross but his horizontally met shot was off target.
The second half was a tale of attrition. Dunstable with all the possession, Norwich with men behind the ball.
The large crowd of 276 did their best. Singing and chanting for the 90 minutes their patience was finally rewarded when Harry Beaumont’s free kick out on the left was superbly met by Joe Sellers-West. His header looked like it would nestle in the top corner of the net, but somehow Joe Mcloughlin was it's equal and palmed it away. Fortunately for Dunstable, the ball fell kindly to Ethan Creary, who kept his composure and squared the ball for Sean Immanuel to do the rest and see Dunstable home.
Norwich CBS were well organized, kept their shape and structure and for 50 minutes played with only 10 men. Two enforced substitutions due to injuries in the first half further disrupted their game plan but credit to our opponents who fought all the way.
Joe Sellers-West was awarded the Man of the Match award by match sponsor, The Better Body Activewear, but a number of other Blues players were close contenders.
Captain Incredible, Alfie Osborne, and deputy Harry Beaumont ran the midfield but credit is due to all the Dunstable players for never giving up and keep knocking on the door until the opening finally came at the death.
Our next opponents in the 2nd Round of the Isuzu FA Vase are Enfield FC with the tie replacing the scheduled League fixture away at Hoddesdon on Saturday 12th November.
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