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Weston-super-Mare AFC - Match Reports

Match reports - Season 2007 - 2008

Weston lose 6-7 in Penalty Shoot-out

08/10/2007 -Somerset Premier Cup - 7.45pm

Cloudy

Weston�s impressive run of five successive wins came to an abrupt halt at the Woodspring Stadium on Monday night, against a vibrant and energetic Paulton Rovers� side that refused to accept defeat! In an entertaining and absorbing cup tie Weston, fielding practically a full-strength team against the BGB Southern League Division One (South & West) side could well have gone two goals up in the opening ten minutes but good fortune eluded �striker Lewis Powell on both occasions; the same player did much better however on 12 minutes when his neat, flicked header from 6 yards opened the scoring (and his own goal account) for the Seagulls, from Dean Grubb�s corner.

Six minutes later and the visitors were level; the normally Mr Reliable Craig Rand�s clumsy foul on Ben Cleverley allowing Lee Marshall to strike home an impressive free kick past the diving right hand of �keeper Ben John. The visitors could well have added to their scoreline prior to half-time but a mixture of wayward finishing and brave closing down by stalwart Mike Taylor kept the scores level at the break. The home side were sent out early to sample the cold evening air prior to the restart, manager Tony Ricketts obviously far from happy with his side�s first 45 minutes performance and these shock tactics seemed to have the desired effect. Weston were awarded a free-kick some 20-yards out, and dead-ball ace Ryan Harley found the net with yet another specialist drive home. Paulton Rovers� response was almost immediate, and their �captain Mark Harrington burst through a hesitant defence to smash the ball against the side-netting when it almost seemed easier to score. Striker Peter Sheppard then forced an incredible save from Ben John, who was gaining in confidence as the game continued to gather momentum. The usually cohesive Weston defence wasn�t gelling to its normal effect on the night though and a further spat of hesitation let in darting inside-forward Chris Lane, who netted past John to level the scores.

With two minutes remaining, the visitors thought they had won the tie, substitute Dan Cleverley rifling home from 20 yards, to send players and visiting supporters alike into ecstasy. Weston realising they could be on end of a cup shock, rallied themselves like never before in the game. Manager Ricketts sent on substitutes Barry McConnell and Ashan Holgate and gradually Weston made the match more of a competition. With seconds remaining club captain Craig Loxton�s thunderous strike hit the back of the net. Paulton were far from finished however and they took the lead again inside five minutes of the first period of extra time, a further Cleverley goal on the recorded on the scoresheet for brother Ben who hit home from the a rasping drive from the edge of the penalty area. Weston puffed their way through the half, but the visitors were having none of it, and substitute Rick Hulbert deserved better luck, when his clever lob beat John but sailed wide. Amazingly, Weston levelled again almost at the death; Loxton created space for Harley for the latter to unleash a cracking drive to level the scores with just one minute of extra time remaining. In the resultant penalty shoot-out, both teams scored four from five attempts. With the home crowd having their hearts in their mouths, Mike Taylor stepped up but was denied by keeper Dyson, leaving man-of-the-match Chris Lane to beat �keeper Ben John from the spot and put his side into the second round. A depleted Weston manager, Tony Ricketts, said �We only had four players missing from our regular line up and I thought that we would have been good enough to win it, but we defended poorly as a team, and as a unit. We are very good going forward but not, at times, when we don�t have the ball, and we caused ourselves problems it�s as simple as that�. Weston return to action at BGB Southern League Premier Division, Team Bath on Sunday (14th October)(kick off: 3PM) in the FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round; their concentration levels will quite clearly need to be better than they were on Monday night, for this tough looking encounter against the Bath University side.

Att: 115

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