by Peter Scherer
TWO goals each from Thabang Dube and Archie White saw Mickleover advance to the next round of the Derbyshire Senior Cup, with a 7-0 victory over Chesterfield Reserves.
Starting line-up: 1-Jack McDowell 2-Josh Ashman 3-Archie White 4-Danny Benson 5-Ashton Offler 6-George Wilkinson 7-Thabang Dube 8-Harry Wood 9-Josiah Dyer 10-Fraser Corden 11-Paddy Webb. Subs: Andy Dales, Stuart Beavon, Ali Mohiuddin, Michael Hollingsworth, Will Atkinson.
It was a strong start from Mickleover, with captain Webb testing the visitors keeper in the third minute, cutting in from the left and forcing a low save to the right.
Three minutes later Dube earned a corner on the right, as Chesterfield struggled to break out their own half and so it continued.
Eight minutes in and Webb broke through again on the left wing. His cross went across the face of the goal, with Dyer just missing a connection as he slid in., before Dube’s strike was blocked to earn another corner.
The first 15 minutes was all Mickleover, before Chesterfield got their first break, which brought McDowell racing off his line to head clear again.
Sports earned another corner a couple of minutes later, which White floated into the box, but initially it missed everyone, until Corden connected to fire his effort just over the bar.
Webb continued to look strong on the left keeping the visiting defence under pressure, and with Offler and Wilkinson untroubled at the back, Ashman and White were able to push forward on the wings, aiding an already strong midfield marshalled by Wood.
Chesterfield had a random shot in the 21st minute well over the bar, before White sent Corden on a long run, almost making it clear of the whole defence. He earned a corner, but Offler’s rising header was over the bar.
Three minutes later Dube saw off three defenders on the right before finding Webb. He managed to get a shot in, but hadn’t quite connected and it was an easy collection for the keeper.
The inevitable happened on the half hour after another Dube run on the right. He put the ball inside for White to run onto and fire it home from just outside the box. 1-0.
We only had to wait two minutes for a second goal, when a powerful shot from Dyer was parried by the keeper for Dube to hit the rebound home 2-0.
Straight from the restart Webb put a toe poke just beyond the right-hand post, and 35 mins in Corden put Dube through forcing a good save out of the Chesterfield keeper.
Dyer had another close range blocked by the keeper after 40 minutes, but three minutes later he made it 3-0, after a corner on the left was headed back in by Ashman, for Dyer to head home.
Webb had three more attempts before the half time whistle, one saved by the keeper and the others blocked earning corners.
Five minutes into the second half Chesterfield had their second shot, well off target, but only two minutes later Mickleover made it 4-0. Corden had worked hard on the left and found Dube who hit his second of the game.
Benson then put a header over the bar and Corden set up Webb, but his shot was blocked again to earn a corner.
Dube outpaced the defence again after 57 minutes, but the keeper denied him his hattrick. White then made it 5-0 wit a great strike down the middle from outside the box, after more ground work from Dube.
Benson and Dube made way for Dales and Mohiuddin on the hour mark, which was soon followed by a finger tip save onto the bar from the visitors keeper, after Webb had layed the ball off for a Dales shot.
Dales, Corden and White then combined , before White’s shot was deflected for a corner, from which Dales put the final shot just over the bar.
Corden then made it 6-0 after 72 minutes, he picked up a ball from White and his shot came off the keeper and the bar before going over the in.
Just after Offler had tried a semi-overhead kick, more changes were made as Hollingsworth and Atkinson replaced Wood and Wilknson.
Dales finally rounded the tie off at 7-0 to end a totally dominant performance from Mickleover and now we look forward to the draw for the next round.
