Despite missing the instrumental trio of Stefan Marsh, Ben Garnham & Ben Seaman & being forced to carry out the warm-up in the dark, Woodbridge raced out of the blocks & were 2-0 ahead inside 5 minutes as JACK SEVERY swivelled on Adam Webster’s low cross to score from close range & then turned Sean Rea’s pass perfectly into the path of LUKE READ, who had ran from midfield before slotting home. Craig Jennings headed another effort wide & the Debenham keeper superbly tipped away a low shot from Severy as the visitors threatened to run riot.

However, in true Woodbridge fashion, defensive disasters were never far away & Tom Ross was forced into one brave block while two efforts also flew narrowly over his bar as Debenham posed all sorts of unanswered questions.

It was no surprise when Debenham reduced the arrears after being quickest to loose balls three times in a matter of seconds & when Ross tripped their centre forward on 36 minutes, the resultant penalty levelled the score at 2-2.

In quick succession Severy & Read rattled the woodwork, while Jennings squandered two good chances & the home keeper denied Webster & Read with excellent saves, but there were also many frantic moments in the other penalty area & a huge escape for Woodbridge when a gilt-edged chance was blazed over on the stroke of half-time.

With a reshaped back-line & the inclusion of 15 year old Jordan Seaman from the start of the 2^nd half, it was a more cagey opening after the ‘attack-fest’ of the 1^st half, although the home keeper made an even more outstanding save to claw away Webster’s shot from the top corner.

It was Woodbridge who grabbed the all-important next goal though when Seaman headed Read’s cross back across goal for CRAIG JENNINGS to head in & within minutes the two-goal lead was restored as Severy tricked his way through a series of tackles before being upended & make-shift sweeper SEAN REA stepped forward to tuck away the penalty & keep up his record of scoring in every round of the F.A. Youth Cup.

By now Woodbridge were turning on the style & threatening to score every time they received possession & after having a goal ‘wrongly’ adjudged to have gone out of play before hitting the net, substitute JOSHUA MAYHEW got himself on the score-sheet, rounding off a flowing move started by Read & Rea who both closed down a free-kick at the other end of the pitch before Mayhew was perfectly set up by Jennings. JOSHUA MAYHEW got a delightful 2^nd goal minutes later after racing onto Danny Tatum’s flick & turning the last defender inside & out before rolling the ball into the corner.

The ‘master-class’ of attacking continued into the last 4 minutes with two more fantastic goals, both from CRAIG JENNINGS who firstly powered away from the last defender to lash in a left-footed shot from the edge of the area & then completed the perfect hat-trick (header / left foot / right foot) when he cut inside the Debenham right back & hammered an even harder shot into the opposite top corner.

Having defeated fellow Eastern Region teams Long Melford, March & Debenham, Woodbridge must now travel to play the winners of the Borehamwood v London Colney tie.  

Team: Ross, Hammond, Kempson (Mayhew 58), Rea, Nichols (J Seaman 45), Salisbury , Read, Webster (Widdowson 60), Jennings , Tatum, Severy.