Penalty heartbreak at Stag Meadow ends Windsor & Eton's FA Vase dream

Jabir Laraba celebrates his equaliser against Fisher. Photo: Richard Milam

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Windsor & Eton 1, Fisher 1 (Fisher progress 4-3 on penalties)

Windsor & Eton’s dream of reaching the FA Vase final and playing at Wembley will have to wait for another season after the Royalists were beaten on penalties by Fisher FC on Saturday afternoon.

Rob Webb’s side have been in excellent form this season, and promotion from the Combined Counties Premier Division North may not yet be beyond them with plenty of games to catch up on their rivals.

However, they came into this game a little undercooked, having played just twice in the league since December 20 due to postponed matches.

They therefore couldn’t quite find the fluency or tempo they’ve exhibited many times this season and often in this competition as they’ve overcome Whitchurch United, Bearstead and Tunbridge Wells.

 On Saturday, 90 minutes plus stoppage time couldn’t separate Windsor from their technically very solid opponents from the Southern Counties East Premier Division.

Backed by nearly 600 people at Stag Meadow, the stage was set for the Royalists to perform, but it was the visitors who struck first when Festos Kamara grabbed the opener for Fisher in the ninth minute.

 The home side came back into it and would have been delighted to go into half-time on level terms after Jabir Laraba swept the ball across the Fisher keeper and into the back of the net to make it 1-1.

Webb made a string of substitutions as he looked for a way to break down their opponents once again, but the hosts couldn’t find it, and the visitors held firm to force spot kicks.

The hosts missed their first and fourth spot kicks and visitors Fisher managed to edge through 4-3 in the shootout.

The loss of midfielder Leo Decabo following his dismissal in the final minutes may also have cost the home side as Decabo would surely have been lined up to take one of the Royalists’ first five penalties.

Fisher progress to the final 16 of the competition, while Windsor & Eton now turn their full focus back to the league campaign. 

 Having seen games postponed due to frozen and waterlogged pitches, and others called off due to their continued participation in the Vase, they have many games to make up on pretty much all the teams above them.

 Heading into Saturday’s scheduled game at home to British Airways, the Royalists are sixth in the table.

They trail leaders Burnham by 14 points but have eight matches in hand over them.

Should they win a significant proportion of those games they’ll put themselves right in the title mix, but the schedule will be demanding given how many fixtures they’ll need to squeeze into the coming weeks and months.

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Elsewhere in the Combined Counties Premier Division North this week, Holyport’s hopes of avoiding relegation suffered a setback as they were beaten 5-0 away by Virginia Water on Tuesday.

Having seen their game at home to North Greenford United on Saturday postponed due to a waterlogged Summerleaze Park surface, Holyport were confidently swept aside by Virginia Water in mid-week.

Aderi Dede scored twice in the 20th and 24th minutes to take the game away from Port, while a goal from Lewis Flatman on the half-hour mark and an own goal from Andy Forisky in the 45th minute gave the visitors a mountain to climb in the second half. Ryan Blake finished off the job in the 84th minute. 

 Holyport are due to host Milton United on Saturday in what must be considered a must-win game. Port are two points from safety having now played three more matches than the team just above them, North Leigh.