Robins drew 1-1 in the Emirates FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round on Saturday at the Spires and Hartwell Stadium. Robins were up against Newcastle Town, from Newcastle under Lyme in Staffordshire who play in the Northern Premier League. It was a well-played match for both sides not giving each anything much away. Progress to the next round is up for grabs again Tuesday evening.
Our visitors opened the scoring with Tom Jones on 31 minutes after the visitors settled into the game quicker than the Robins. However, the Robins had other ideas and gradually came back into the game, chances came to both teams but just 9 minutes later Ethan Moran shot a superb ball over keeper Joseph Slinn who was off his line to put the Robins back on level pegging. Roll onto the second half with some good chances for the hosts who saw Harry White hit the post, but alas, no more goals.
Looking back on the match, a draw was a fair result. Our visitors had the better of the first half, while the Robins finished the game much stronger than they were in the first half.
We’ll need a replay to progress to the next round which will take place on Tuesday evening, with a visit to Newcastle Town which gets underway at KO 19:45.
Looking further ahead, Westfields of the Hellenic League Premier Division edged out Daventry Town 1-0 on Saturday. The winners of our replay with Newcastle Town on Tuesday evening will travel to them in the next round a week on Saturday.
ROBINS STARTING X1 (vs Newcastle Town): 1 Alex Harris, 2 Sam Bailey (59′ 3 Rhys Bennett), 4 Josh Barlow, 6 Michael O’Regan, 7 Ethan Moran (40′), 8 Aaron Heap, 11 Alfie Dunn (65’9 Harry White)(73′ 16 Ben Alexander), 12 Reegan Messenger (65′ 17 Levi Steele), 14 Daniel Djurovic, 18 Jyrel Bojang, 20 Jordy N’Gathe (59′ 10 Amer Awadh)
SUBSTITUTES: 15 Pelumi Maxwell
ATTENDANCE: 241
