Out of the FA Trophy after Penalties

Robins bowed out of the Isuzu FA Trophy last Saturday on penalties 5-3 after drawing 2-2 in normal time. Earlier this season the Robin won 2-0 at home against Bristol Manor Farm but this time around the Farm had other ideas.

With the rain lashing down on the players The Farm was knocking the ball around nicely, but the Evesham pressure halted any progression. Mason Winter delivered a dangerous cross to the head of Louis Britton but missed the target by just a few inches. Evesham broke forward, it looked like a certain goal for the Robins, but Seth stretched a leg and knocked it behind for a corner.

With the Farm riding the pressure well, Evesham grew into the match with chances at both ends as Mason Winter forced the home side into a save before Levi Steele spotted Seth Locke off his line but hit over.

Farm went down to 10 men in the 42′, and Aron Robbins was dismissed following a fierce tackle. Quick response to the red card and the visitors took the lead with Britton 42′, an error from the Robins gifted the goal to Louis Britton who knocked the ball past both Alex Harris and the defence and then had the simple task of rolling into the empty net.

Robins went in one goal down thanks to Louis Britton’s goal just before half time sending 10-man Farm into the break leading.

The Farm hung on during the second half, while understandably the Robins ramped up the pressure on the 10-men Farm who soaked everything up. That was until Josh Barlow had other ideas, this was something special to get past the Farm’s backline, Jamie Adams’ header fell to the edge of the area and Josh Barlow volleyed home the equaliser 72′ so out of nothing the Robins were back in it.

The visitors returned to the lead after being against the ropes for the second half, George Dowling saw an opportunity to strike the ball and beat Alex Harris from 25 yards.

All was not lost at this point it was another match that was not good for the heart, Seth Locke was beaten from a distance by Toby Raison to level it all up again in the dying seconds 90′ to take the match to a penalty shootout.

Robins went out of the Isuzu FA Trophy 5-3 on penalties. The Robins now have the league to concentrate on for the remainder of the season this starts with a trip to Bideford AFC tomorrow to The Sports Ground, Kingsley Road EX39 2NG (kick-off 3 pm). Live updates can be followed on the Club X (formerly Twitter) feed. We then move swiftly to Tuesday evening with a trip to the Loop Meadow Stadium, Bowmont Water, Ladygrove OX11 &GA to take on Didcot Town (kick-off 7:45 pm) before the Robins return to The Spiers & Hartwell Stadium next Saturday 5th October against Westbury United (kick-off 3 pm).

ROBINS STARTING X1 (vs Bristol Manor Farm): 1 Alex Harris, 2 Sam Bailey (64′ 8 Aaron Heap), 4 Josh Barlow 72′, 5 Toby Raison 90′, 6 Michael O’Regan, 7 Ethan Moran, 10 Amer Awadh (c), 12 Reegan Messenger (61′ 9 Harry White), 14 Richard Michaels (46′ 11 Alfie Dunn), 17 Levi Steele, 18 Jyrel Bojang

ROBINS UNUSED SUBSTITUTES: 13 Dominic Hill (gk), 15 Pelumi Maxwell

ATTENDANCE: 246

PENALTIES:

Evesham: 17 Levi Steele✅ 10 Amer Awadh❌ 7 Ethan Moran✅ 9 Harry White✅
Bristol: 8 George Dowling✅ 20 Dylan Tate✅ 5 Harry Lucas✅ 7 Josh Bissett✅ 2 Mason Winter✅