Fakenham Town 0, Wroxham 4

FORMER Fakenham player Paul Cousins returned to haunt the Ghosts with the opening goal as Wroxham recorded a comfortable Norfolk Senior Cup fourth round win on Tuesday night.

The hosts held their own against the Yachtsmen in the first half, but with the wind at the backs in the second period, Wroxham asserted their superiority to reach the quarter-finals.

Fakenham director of football Geoff Saunders said: “We worked really hard, but we were just a yard off the pace and it shows the difference between the Premier Division and the First Division. They are the top side and it showed.

“We were creating chances in the first half, but in the second half when they had the wind with them we just couldn’t get out of our area.”

Fakenham threatened first when Jake Bett’s long range shot was deflected behind, but Wroxham went ahead in the fourth minute when Cousins headed home.

Two minutes before the break, Fakenham keeper Tom Rix fumbled a cross allowing Paul Cook to tap in.

Cook scored twice more in the second half and Wroxham could even afford a penalty miss, as Damian Hilton’s spot-kick was saved by Rix.

Fakenham: Rix, Day, Pease, Greer, Gilchrist, Garner, Betts, Page, Plumb, Tricks, Harris. Subs: Bamford, Hayes, Manning, Jones.

Fakenham will be aiming to shrug off a run of six successive defeats when they host Long Melford in the Ridgeons League First Division on Saturday.

Long Melford are one place and two points above Wayne Anderson’s side in the table, so it is an ideal time for the Ghosts to arrest their slide.

Tuesday night’s Senior Cup defeat to Wroxham followed other cup exits at the hands of Godmanchester and Dereham, while they have also lost to Stowmarket, Whitton and Halstead in the league.

“It’s a good game to get back on track after a few heavy defeats recently,” said Ghosts director of football Geoff Saunders.