Stevenage progress into Round Three of the Emirates FA Cup through goals from Luke Norris and Jamie Reid...
Stevenage made their way to North-west Norfolk as attention turned to the Emirates FA Cup, with National League North side King’s Lynn the opponents. Steve Evans made five changes from Tuesday’s win over Arsenal’s youngsters as Taye Ashby-Hammond, Luther James-Wildin, Carl Piergianni, Luke Norris and Jamie Reid all returned to the starting eleven.
The opening fifteen minutes were relatively quiet as both sides looked to get the ball down and play their football in front of the BBC cameras. Boro were sharp at times as they moved the ball forward, with Alex Gilbey eventually getting the first shot of the game which was easy enough for The Linnet’s keeper to collect.
Twenty-five minutes in, Stevenage created a dangerous chance as they looked to take the lead. Luke Norris crossed the ball into the area and found Jamie Reid who took a touch and fired on goal, but his effort was denied by the feet of the King’s Lynn stopper.
Just minutes later, The Linnet’s came incredibly close to scoring the opening goal. A dangerous cross was sent into the Boro area with Gold Omotayo lurking at the back post, but the forward was unable to get enough on the ball as it went out for a goal kick.
The Linnet’s remained very much on the front foot as they aimed to cause an upset. Joshua Barrett received the ball on the left-hand side of the box before firing just wide of the near post.
Five minutes before the interval, Steve Evans was forced into his first change of the game as Terence Vancooten went down after a knock and was replaced by Jake Reeves.
In the closing stages of the half, Boro formed a delightful move and came close to going in front. Jordan Robert’s flick over the top of the defence landed at Jamie Reid’s feet but the striker couldn’t quite get enough power behind a shot as the keeper collected.
The second half soon got underway, and Stevenage opened the scoring just four minutes in. Jamie Reid turned past the King’s Lynn defender before picking out Luke Norris inside the area who fired into the bottom corner to give his side the lead.
Boro looked on fire now as they doubled their lead just moments later. Luther James-Wildin had the ball on the right wing before sending in a delightful cross to an unmarked Luke Norris who headed home to double his tally for the afternoon.
The goals just kept coming for the visitors as Boro scored their third in five minutes, this time with Jamie Reid finding his name on the scoresheet. Goal scorer Luke Norris played in Reid who cut in on his right foot before unleashing a powerfully curled effort into the top right corner before knee-sliding directly in front of the ecstatic travelling support.
Stevenage had completely killed the game off with fifteen minutes remaining as King’s Lynn had an enormous mountain to climb. Arthur Read looked to make his mark on the game as he wriggled past defenders and ran to the by-line, but his low cross was gathered by the keeper.
With ten minutes remaining, Steve Evans made two substitutions with David Amoo and Jake Taylor replacing Jamie Reid and Arthur Read respectively, in order to introduce fresh legs.
It was a professional second half from Stevenage whose ultimate aim was to see out the victory and play impressive football in the process. The tempo had certainly dropped but this was no concern for Evans and his coaching staff.
Two more subs were introduced in the closing stages as Danny Rose and Dean Campbell were handed some minutes on the pitch in place of Jordan Roberts and Luke Norris. Eventually the referee blew for full time to send Stevenage into Round Three of the FA Cup.
Att: 4,203 (inc. 740 away)
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