Match report: Cambridge City 1-0 Wroxham (Abandoned)

Cambridge City's fans would've been dreaming of what might have been had they progressed into the First Round of the FA Cup, which would've been an away tie to Plymouth Argyle. However, because of the defeat to Alvechurch in the Third Qualifying Round, it was Wroxham who were the visitors in the Isthmian Division One North.

City were coming into the game on a four match win-less streak, the last of which came on Tuesday night, a defeat to Buckhurst Hill. However, the Lilywhites had won their previous four home matches, the last of which was also against Buckhurst Hill, a 2-0 victory. Wroxham were also looking to bounce back after two games without a win. They were beaten 1-0 last weekend by Redbridge and three days later, manager Jordan Southgate resigned and Ryan Fuller and Darren Plowman-Read took charge instead.

City were missing Jayden Randell, the captain serving the first match of his suspension after his sending off against Bowers & Pitsea. Despite that fact, City had the first chance of the game. Charlie Norman found himself on the right-hand side and his cross seemed to hit the arm of a Wroxham defender. Referee Jaden Lister agreed and pointed to the spot. Charlie Royle steeped up to take it and he sent Luke Holt the wrong way to give City the lead.

After Jack Thomson almost found the top corner with a cross, a City throw allowed Thompson again to fire in a cross which just missed Freddie Hockey's head in the penalty area. City continued to dominate the first half; Jaiden Babalola sent a pass up to Hockey, it then fell to Sam Chaney, who fired in a shot which was blocked, the ball then fell at the feet of Travis Dodsworth but the wing-back's effort flew wide.

Wroxham didn't have much to shout about in the first half. One of their chances came when Ryan Hawkins tried to lob James Philp from 35 yards, the shot sailing harmlessly over the bar. Chaney then won the ball back after Wroxham had the ball in the middle of the park. Thompson received the ball and his shot was charged down, then Babalola hit an effort over the bar. City kept on searching for their second goal with seven minutes to go in the first half. Chaney was sent through by Sam Carter, and the former played in Royle who saw his shot tipped away by Holt. Carter then latched onto a throw and played a pass to Dodsworth and the latter struck a shot that flew over the bar.

Soon after City were reduced to ten men. Chaney appeared to dive into a challenge while trying to win the ball from Billy Batch. Batch went down and the referee immediately produced the red card and sent Chaney off for the challenge. The score remained 1-0 to the Lilywhites at half-time.

As the second half started, the fog began to roll in which would prove to be a problem later on. Wroxham started the half better, as Ryan John sent in a cross after receiving the ball from Ben Lewis. The cross was cleared straight into the path of Hawkins, whose shot was blocked behind for a corner. The corner was punched clear, then Philp was called into action again to tip over the following cross.

The second corner was whipped in and Jordan King connected with the header but his header went wide. With 53 minutes gone, Philp was needed again as a long pass from Batch was picked up by Sammy Johnson, with the forward forcing Philp to make a fine save. City then broke down the other end, with Jack Thompson finding Royle on the right-hand side, but the striker rolled his shot agonisingly wide of the far post. Batch then sent a ball forward which looked to be overhit, but Hawkins managed to get a toe to it and, as Philp was out of his goal, sent a shot goalwards. The shot was just saved by Philp, although Hawkins appealed to the referee believing that Philp had handled the ball outside of the area.

It was not long after when the thick fog began to roll across the pitch. A Charlie Norman throw found Thompson but the latter's cross was just too high for Hockey. A Thompson corner then followed and was headed just wide by Charlie Lewis. Although City were a man light, they continued to press for the second goal. Reece Harris found Royle in the final third of the pitch. Royle then found Thompson but his strike was aimed just over the crossbar.

At this point, the visibility was pretty much zero and referee Jaden Lister called both teams to the halfway line to discuss what was to happen next. An initial five minute delay was followed by a further ten minute delay, and the referee then abandoned the game due to the poor visibility with the score 1-0 to the hosts.

City will now be looking towards Tuesday night with Great Shelford the visitors in the Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup Quarter-Final. The Lilywhites' next league outing is scheduled to be next weekend, away to Lowestoft Town, although that has been thrown into doubt as the Suffolk side were forced to postpone their match away at Canvey Island on Saturday as they couldn't raise a team for the match.

Many thanks to Connor Taylor-Creek for the match report and to Ben Saich for the photo.