Vasco 1 Wolves 5

Wolves hammered Vasco 5-1 to advance to the round of sixteen in the FA Cup yesterday, in a match played at the Southampton Rangers Sports Club.

It is a scoreline that belies the pattern of play in the opening exchanges, as Vasco enjoyed the advantage in the early battle for midfield dominance.

Wolves did, however, create the better chances, with Antinori Butterfield missing from close range after fifteen minutes, in what should have been a clear warning for the Vasco defence.

Still, it was the designated home side that opened the scoring with a quick, intricate move between the midfield and attack in the 24th minute. The fluid exchange culminated with Kyle Godfrey springing the offside trap to slot home past Reid Trott in the Wolves goal after being played through by Anthony Dacosta.

Wolves pulled level moments later, as Tamauri Tucker found the angled run of London Steede with a quick free kick that caught the Vasco backline napping, with the attacking midfielder slotting past goalkeeper Paulo Flora, before the defenders could react.

With five minutes to go before the interval, Wolves took the lead through a counter-attack, which led to Lamelle Paynter breaking away with acres of real estate in the left channel, before slipping Morricko Iris in, to finish low past Flora.

Wolves even had time to beat Flora one more time before the break, through Steede, who shot straight at the goalkeeper, before recycling the ball wide for Iris, who managed to squeeze a pass through to Kyle Brangman, whose side-footed drive crept in at the near post.

Vasco emerged from the half-time break desperate to claw their way back in the contest, showing their intentions in the early stages of the second half, but were limited to a few half-chances from just outside the box. Their best chance came five minutes after the restart when Kalin Hillier found Godfrey on the edge of the penalty box, but he fired his effort wide.

Minutes later, Wolves nearly added to their lead. Steede picked up possession before laying off the ball to Gatwoine Minors whose shot beat everything, including the crossbar, after he had sprinted forward from his left-back position.

They did find their fourth goal from a poor Vasco free-kick, which Tucker intercepted and lofted into Iris, who outmuscled his man before slotting home past the onrushing Flora.

Knowing the game was out of reach, Vasco tried to salvage some pride. However, they again were limited to a few half-chances and shots from outside the area, owing to a strong Wolves defence.

Wolves finished off the game in style with a fifth goal just before the end of the contest as Tucker clipped in a free-kick from midfield towards Iris, whose first effort was blocked by an impressive save from Flora, who could do nothing to stop Iris, who tucked home the rebound.

Wolves coach Vincent Minors was delighted with his side’s resolve after coming from behind to register a dominant victory.

“We showed a lot of heart after going one down,” Minors said. “We caught them off guard with that free-kick.”

SCORERS

Vasco: Godfrey 24

Wolves: Iris 40, 59, 89; Steede 26; Brangman 43

TEAMS

Vasco (4-2-3-1): P Flora 4 – K Cabral 4, C Lima 5, L Morrison 4, E Viera 4 – D Teleman 4, K Hillier 4 (sub: R Smith 76) – M Armstrong 4, S Brown 4, A Dacosta 5 – K Godfrey 6 Subs not used: J Springer, A Van-Duyne

Wolves (4-2-3-1): R Trott 5 – G Minors 6 (sub: C Holdipp 82), O Smith 5, Q Simmons 6, J Minors 5 – T Tucker 8, L Steede 7 – L Paynter 7, K Brangman 7 (sub: V Minors 82), M Iris 9 – A Butterfield 6 (sub: M Ming 68 6) Subs not used: Z Rubaine, T Davis, S Richardson

Referee: A Augustus