Cove 2 Tooting and Mitcham United 1 – 10 October 2026 Report

Match Report

Tooting & Mitcham United’s FA Vase adventure for the season came to a disappointing end away at Wessex League outfit Cove FC. The home side established dominance early in the match, putting the Terrors under pressure from the opening whistle. Cove broke the deadlock in the 13th minute when a cross found an unmarked Luke Perkins, who calmly fired his shot into the corner of the net to make it 1-0.

Cove nearly doubled their advantage after 20 minutes, but Tooting goalkeeper Toby McKimm produced a fine save to deny a dangerous effort from Arman Riley. Just a minute later, the visitors had a golden opportunity to equalize when Max Oldham broke free through the middle. However, with only the keeper to beat, Oldham lost his footing on a poor pitch just as he entered the penalty area.

Tooting’s uphill battle became significantly steeper in the 39th minute when Justus Egbueri was shown a straight red card for a last-man foul, reducing the visitors to 10 men before the break.

Down a man, Tooting struggled to break through a well-marshalled Cove defence in the second half. The home side capitalised on their numerical advantage in the 76th minute, extending their lead to 2-0 when Will Okine-Peters touched home a cross from close range.

Despite the setback, the 10-man Tooting squad showed great spirit in the final 10 minutes. Max Oldham nearly pulled one back directly from a corner, only for the ball to be cleared off the line during a frantic goalmouth scramble. Oldham found his reward deep in injury time (90+4′), successfully scoring directly from another corner kick to bring the score to 2-1.

Unfortunately, it proved to be the final action of the game. The referee blew the whistle immediately after the restart, leaving no time for the Terrors to trouble the home defence again and bringing a premature end to this season’s cup run.

Team Lineup