FA Cup Preliminary Round Felixstowe & Walton Utd 0 Walthamstow 1 Unfortunately for Felixstowe & Walton, there was no romance of the FA Cup for them on Saturday at the Goldstar Ground, writes Barry Grossmith.

East Anglian Daily Times: James Peagram (out of shot) scores what proved to be the winning game for Walthamstow. Picture: PHIL GRIFFITHSJames Peagram (out of shot) scores what proved to be the winning game for Walthamstow. Picture: PHIL GRIFFITHS (Image: Archant)

Essex Senior League side Walthamstow travelled up from East London and returned home knowing their name will be in the hat for Tuesday’s draw for the First Qualifying Round of the famous competition.

The day started brightly both on and off the pitch, with plenty of sunshine, 305 spectators and a lively start by the home side.

Darcy De’ath made his home debut in his current spell at the club and there was a welcome return for Jack Ainsley following his suspension. Up front, Miles Powell made way for Sam Ford.

But it was James Peagram who opened the scoring for the visitors on 15 minutes, netting from the edge of the box and, despite their best efforts, Felixstowe found it hard to get a toehold in a game which saw Walthamstow closing the home side down in an organized and determined fashion.

East Anglian Daily Times: Jack Spurling collects the ball under pressure. Picture: PHIL GRIFFITHSJack Spurling collects the ball under pressure. Picture: PHIL GRIFFITHS (Image: Archant)

It was a hard pill to swallow, but in the first half the Seasiders had not covered themselves in glory.

The second period can best be described as fractious with four yellow cards for each side and two reds – Junior Appiah and Ryan Ramsay – for Walthamstow. Despite playing against nine men, Felixstowe couldn’t break through a well-disciplined defence and exited the competition much earlier than expected.

Speaking after the game, joint manager Kevin O’Donnell said: “They came with a game plan... we knew they were going to be physical and an in your face type of side.

“After they went down to nine, they set up the back four and put midfielders in front and stopped us.”

He went on to say that Felixstowe did have plenty of chances but it just wasn’t to be, although Rhys Barber and Sam Ford did go close.

O’Donnell finished by saying: “We know this will be a steep learning curve - as long as we win more than we lose we’ll be okay.”

With just 48 hours’ break, it’s off to Norfolk on Monday to face Dereham Town in the Bostik North and hopefully a return to winning ways.