Hunter and Brothers react to FA Cup victory.
Liam Pearce's two goals and an assist guided Needham Market through to the Second Qualifying of the Emirates FA Cup, following a 3-1 victory over Stanway Rovers after a replay at Bloomfields.
The result makes it 6 years since the Suffolk side exited the competition at the 1st Qualifying Round, with victory over the newly promoted fellow step 3 side, and sets up a home tie against National League South side Braintree Town.
Needham broke the deadlock early on as double goalscorer Pearce (8') rounded goalkeeper Dion Curtis-Henry to cooly finish into the far corner, ahead of Ben Hunter (30') latching onto the midfielder's mazy run and defence splitting pass to hammer home Needham's second into the top corner for a 2-0 interval lead.
Ryan Charles (50') curled home to halve the deficit shortly after the break, which despite Needham's large amounts of possession and chances, put the tie on a knife edge until Pearce (90'+3') wrapped up Needham's passage into the next round - pouncing on a wayward pass to find the net unfazed.
Tom Rothery made one change to Saturday's original tie at Stanway Rovers, Ryan Miles missed out through injury, Marcel Lewiss returned to the starting eleven and Harlyn Palmer returned from illness on the bench.
The visitors made two alterations to Saturday, Joe Paxman and ex-Marketman Harley Curtis started in place of Mathias Fanimo and Noah Monsanya, with Jude Carolan dropping off the bench, replaced by Tom Robinson.
Needham went close early on (4'), Jake Dye broke down the right wing whose great low cross fell to Marcel Lewis free from 10-yards out but his goal-bound strike was crucially deflected wide by Hedley Ogbebor for a corner.
Marcel Lewis forced a save from the Rovers' keeper (7'), the forward broke through clear on goal, one on one with Dion Curtis-Henry, who rushed out to smother the shot away well.
Liam Pearce broke the deadlock moments later (8'), and opened his Needham account in style, the midfielder beat the onrushing Curtis-Henry free in space on the left-hand side to smartly fire into the vacant bottom far corner to make it 1-0 Needham.
Kyle Hammond (15') lashed a fierce strike narrowly wide of the near post from the left, while Jake Dye (20') went close to a second goal.
The defender was fed through free down the right wing whose first time cross flashed just wide of the top far corner.
A much livelier game in general compared to the original fixture, with an extra bit of impetus from the Marketmen, prompted very good front foot football from Rothery's side, as Tevan Allen (24') weaved through on the left-hand side whose initial effort was blocked before his dangerous cut-back flashed across goal.
At the other end, Ryan Charles (26') exploited space from 25-yards to hit a fierce swerving strike towards goal, forcing Jamess Bradbrook to beat the ball over well.
Sam Carter (27') then headed a right wing corner straight at Bradbrook from close range at the far post, prior to Marcel Lewis (28') finding space to fire low at goal from the left-hand edge of the box - albeit his shot was well held by Curtis-Henry at his near post.
George Holly (30') struck the wall with a dangerous free-kick, which Needham swiftly countered and doubled their lead.
On the counter, goalscorer Liam Pearce added an assist to his earlier goal to create a brilliantly worked goal. The midfielder raced down the right wing to thread Hunter through charging onto the far side to expertly fire home into the top near corner.
Dan Morphew's (34') excellent challenge cut out a swift break down the right wing at the expense of a corner, before hunter (37') saw a 30-yard powerful shot blocked.
Hammond's (42') low free-kick cannoned off a leg in the wall, with Saunders' shot skewed wide of the bottom corner, after Dirari wiped out Lewis 20-yards out on the right, as the Marketmen led at the break.
After the break, Stanway had a shot deflected wide 30 seconds after the restart, before Dan Morphew (49') was the first player cautioned for halting a promising attack in reckless fashion just inside the visitors' half.
The away side however halved the deficit (50') from the following free-kick, despite a big save from Bradbrook to claw Holly's right wing cross away from Hughes, the ball to fell to Ryan Charles to dip a stunning curled strike home into the top far corner.
Lewis (51') curled wide in reply, as Tommy Smith (55') defended stoutly to prevent a right wing cross.
57' CHANCE!
Winger Lewis (57') was soon released breaking through down the left wing to square low for Tevan Allen, the latter looked to go past his man to shoot but the defender poked the ball away.
Needham remained control of the game (59'), and forced an important stop from Curtis-Henry, Ollie Saunders' rifled effort from the left-hand edge of the box, from Hammond's great ball, forced the keeper to fly high to his right-hand side and beat the ball behind for a corner.
Tevan Allen (65') hared down the right wing but his clever low squared pass towards Pearce was cut out crucially for a corner, Hammond then flicked on Allen's great right wing corner at the near post which flashed away with no other Red shirt able to capitalise.
Jake Dye (67') meanwhile headed agonisingly just over from Allen's excellent right wing corner at close range.
Lewis (68') looped a great effort over the onrushing keeper only for the defender to hook it away from goal, meanwhile Saunders (70') ran onto the right byline but watched his smart clipped cross flash across goal and away to safety. The midfielder (71') then wraped narrowly wide of the top right-hand corner soon after as the Marketmen hunted the all important next goal.
Kyle Hammond (73') chested down Tommy Smith's excellent left wing delivery, following a good run unmarked, only to see his half-volley blocked, with Lewis' (74') whipped free-kick from a dangerous position held by Curtis-Henry, at his left-hand post.
James Coton (76') replaced Marcel Lewis, as Needham went close to a third on 80 minutes. Tevan Allen's exquisite left wing corner towards goal was headed out as far as Hammond on the far side who thundered his strike just over.
Great football from the Reds (82'), who sharply turned defence into attack, led to another good chance for the hosts. Hammond poked the ball clear, setting Coton free through the visitors' half, the Academy graduate slipped Pearce through past the defence whose great low ball across enabled Allen to step past a sliding challenge, though to see his shot blocked.
The wordwork denied the Marketmen soon after (84'), as the drama began to creep up ever so slightly, Tevan Allen drifted past his man on the right-hand edge of the box to shoot - although his low swerving strike cannoned back into play off the base of the post.
Allen had another fantastic chance in the 87th minute, the midfielder exploited space to drive through towards goal, though curled his low effort just the wrong side of the right-hand post.
The late spree of great chances for the Marketmen continued mere seconds later, Liam Pearce's mazy run on the right opened space to shoot, but the keeper thwarted him at the expense of a corner.
From the resulting set-piece, Josh Curry (88') watched Curtis-Henry leap high to his right-hand side to clawed away the defender's superb effor, ahead of Dan Morphew being well placed to block Holly's shot in the 92nd minute.
Moments later, Needham again immediately went up the other end with substitute James Coton threaded one on one, blistering past the defence, only to go down just outside the box, however appeals for a foul were dismissed by the referee.
An important block from Kyle Hammond (93') deflected a shot high up into the night sky, which James Bradbrook watched the dropping ball well to claim on his line.
Once more Needham were instantly on the attack, this time wrapping up the victory - making it 3-1 in the process. Liam Pearce doubled his Needham tally in a single night, intercepting a quickly taken Stanway free-kick high up the pitch to turn home into the gaping net.
Captain Charlee Hughes was booked soon after for the Essex side, before James Coton almost opened his goal account for the senior team (95')
Coton was free on the left, utilising space to shoot the forward's great, close range, was blocked by the left arm of Curtis-Henry.
Josh Parker was cautioned for a late foul on Tommy Smith (96'), while Ben Hunter and Liam Pearce made way for Harlyn Palmer and Kellen Fiddy at the death.
Needham return to Southern League Premier Central Division action on Saturday when Worcester City visit Bloomfields (3pm), ahead of two cup fixtures - away to Lowestoft Town on Tuesday 15th (7:45pm) in the First Round of the Suffolk Premier Cup, followed by a home fixture on Saturday 19th (3pm) with Braintree Town in the Emirates FA Cup.
REACTION | Ben Hunter Post Match Interview | Needham Market v Stanway Rovers | 08.09.2026 |
Goalscorer Ben Hunter discusses the win over Stanway Rovers. "Yeah, happy to get through to the next round. I think, we made it a little bit hard for ourselves at times by not taking, taking chances. Could have been out of sight, probably early, and then, if you look at the second half, even further out of sight, but, at the end of the day, in the cup, all that matters is, is getting through, and we did tonight, and that sets up a really good tie at home in the next round."
On going into the break with a good advantage, "Yeah, I thought we played well, to be honest. We were a little bit sloppy at times, probably because we were taking too many touches, and, you know, taking, taking the mick a little bit, to be honest, but, yeah, it was a nice boost, and we said at half-time, if we get the next goal, then it'll be all over, and obviously it didn't work out like that, but, again, we're through."
Reflecting on getting on the scoresheet, "Yeah, I don't get many, so it was nice, nice to get one. The lads are bantering me in there about scoring, because they see my shooting in training, and it's going everywhere, but, yeah, Pearce done really well, I overlapped him, and he played me in, and hit and hope. Even though I didn't play with him, when I was there (at Sudbury), yeah, I suppose when you look at it like that, but, yeah, he's been, been good since he's come in. He added something really different to, to what we've got with his, with his running power. I think it's starting to show now, his quality.
On the emotions when Pearce scored Needham's third goal of the night, "Yeah, relief, I'd say, because you know what it's like on nights like this. You have so many chances. You pass them up, and you just know that they might, at the end, get a fluky goal, but once that goes in, you kind of know it's dead and buried. So, yeah, glad he scored."
On progressing in the FA Cup making the win even sweeter, "Yeah, of course it is. I think it's a really good competition. It gives people a platform. Obviously, good prize money for the club, but, like I say, we did, we had a good run last year, got to Western Super Mare, and I think they only just edged us on the day, and in the next round, they got a tie on TV.So, you never know what's going to happen."
Looking ahead to Saturday's home league meeting with Worcester City, "Yeah, I'd like to think so (follow up on Tuesday's result). I think last year our home form was probably the second or third best in the league. So, probably haven't had the greatest start at home, but, if we can maybe play like tonight and take a few more chances, then I think we'll be absolutely fine.
Asked about being pleased with the result, "Yeah, well-worked goals. I think there could have been more. I'll be honest with you, we had a lot of chances early on in the game and late on in the game. Yeah, good goals, good finishes, but like anything, you always want to improve. You always want to take chances and score more goals to make it a bit easier towards the end, but yeah, I can't complain. As I said we're through. Without being disrespectful, the pitch was a bit of a shocker Saturday. So the type of football we're playing, or could play on that pitch, reflects in the performance, but they played differently today, like you would on a good pitch, a wet pitch. As I said, we're through. Performance goes out the window in cup competitions. You win, you get through. Next week is the league. That's where obviously the bread and butter is. So we need to keep the run of form going. No defeat in three. So yeah, we're in a good place."
"As a management team, we always want to look to focus on the positives, but then there's always stuff to improve on, and again, like I said, I think we need to be more clinical. Going in two up it was brilliant, fantastic. Praises given, but I always think that there's things to improve on. They had the odd chance first half, and they pulled one back just after half-time. And at the end of the game, we're over the moon. We're through. We know we could have put it to bed earlier in the half, but we didn't, but yeah, FA Cup football, just get into the hat. Focus on the next one. Obviously, Needham have been quite fortunate in having a good couple of FA Cup runs. Myself included. We obviously went to Burton, and that's just something you want as a player, as a young player, old player, however old you are. FA Cup's brilliant because you get an opportunity to play out some fantastic rounds against some potential professional outfits. And yeah, we're at home next round, so we've got a massive chance of beating Braintree, and then, who knows, get a favourable draw at home again, hopefully, at the end of the night, anything can happen. I'll be honest with you. The highlight is just getting through. We played some really good stuff. As I said, there's always stuff to improve on, but yeah, credit to the guys who scored, who took the chance as well. Pearcey grabbing two goals, which is always good for him. And hopefully, he can sort of get better and better as his confidence grows."
"As I said, if you include the replay, we're on beating in, what is it now, four. Scoring a few goals. But Worcester will be a completely different outfit. It'll be a a different game to be involved in, I'd assume. Them being a more experienced, step-three side. Very physical of what we believe. So, that'll be a different test for us. Hopefully, we'll have a couple of senior players or first-team players returning from injury, which will help bolster the squad. We train Thursday, prepare in the right ways, and like any game at home, we expect to come out with a positive result."
Needham Market:- 1 James Bradbrook, 2 Jake Dye, 3 Tommy Smith, 4 Kyle Hammond, 6 Dan Morphew (C), 8 Ollie Saunders, 11 Tevan Allen, 12 Liam Pearce (97' Fiddy), 14 Josh Curry, 16 Marcel Lewis (76' Coton), 17 Ben Hunter (97' Palmer). Subs: 13 Charlie Skinner (GK), 15 James Coton, 18 Harlyn Palmer, 19 Kellen Fiddy.
Stanway Rovers:- 1 Dion Curtis-Henry, 2 Joshua Parker, 5 Kenidi Dirari, 3 Will Hayes (61' Heard), 6 Hedley Ogbebor, 8 Sam Carter (67' Cutbush), 7 Geoge Holly, 11 Joe Paxman, 14 Ryan Charles (73' Corps), 9 Charlee Hughes (C) (78' Monsanya), 10 Harley Curtis (84' Hayes). Subs: 4 Fraser Heard, 12 Alfie Cutbush, 15 Mathias Fanimo, 16 Noah Monsanya, 17 Noah Hayes, 18 Tom Robinson, 19 Oliver Corps.
Booked: Dan Morphew (49'), Charlee Hughes (90'+4'), Josh Parker (90'+6')
Goals: Liam Pearce (8', 90'+3'), Ben Hunter (30'); Ryan Charles (50')
Needham Market MOTM sponsored by Ipswich Grab Hire: 6 Dan Morphew
