Wulfs eased their way through to the next round of the FA Cup with a convincing 3-0 replay victory over Bloxwich United.
Manager, Tim Tipton made two changes from the side that drew at the weekend, with Marc Evans and Tom Ray replacing the injured Danny Tipton and Dave Asbury, whilst United’s Ryan McAllister and Adrian Jones were selected ahead of Martin Stanton and Wayne Hayward.
The hosts made the perfect start and forged ahead as early as the second minute. Ricky Anslow went on a mazy run and was brought down in the box by keeper Tony Simkiss. Nathan Rose-Laing made no mistake from the resulting spot-kick. A minute later it could have been two, Simeon Ritchie forcing Simkiss into another fine save.
Ritchie’s skill was causing the Bloxwich outfit all sorts of problems, firstly feeding Chris Rabone who found the head of Tom Ray only to see his effort fall wide of the mark. Next to try his luck was Richie Palmer who’s shot from 22 yards out flew over the crossbar.
Bloxwich strived to get back in the tie and good work by skipper Richard Joyce found Alan Wilkes but his shot was deflected away for a corner by Mark Tipton.
Wulfs domination paid off just past the half hour with their second goal. Simkiss colliding with Joyce and the loose ball fell to Rose-Laing who chipped back in to Ritchie to head the ball into an open net from 18 yards.
Wilkes looked the most likely to salvage some hope for the visitors and his cross-come shot bounced off the top of the bar just before the interval.
Gavin Ellis replaced the injured Simkiss at the start of the second half as Wulfs piled on the pressure. Anslow and Ritchie continued to look menacing but were denied by a combination of Ellis and poor finishing.
Ade Bandele came on to replace Rabone and carved out a wonderful opportunity for Anslow but his shot was blocked on the line and away to safety.
Bloxwich were thrown a lifeline after 87 minutes when they were awarded a penalty after Ashton’s foul on Shaun Charles, but Marc Evans diving to his left brilliantly kept out Wilkes’ spot kick.
Wulfs completed a good night in stoppage time, Ian Boswell side stepping the defender and rifling in to seal a trip to Castle Vale in the next round on 3rd September.
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