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Sat 13 Sep 2014
Chalfont St Peter
Hungerford Town
2
1
M Draycott (18')
Crusaders disappoint in FA Cup
Andrew Robinson14 Sep 2014 - 09:54
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Report by Ron Terry
Football, as they say, is a funny game, for only a week after producing our best performance to beat high-flying Corby we stumbled meekly to defeat at the first hurdle of the FA Cup and missed out on the potentially rich rewards for making progress in this most famous of competitions.
We could hardly have had a worse start when Alan Headley reacted first to a free-kick from Remmel Clarke to beat Paul Strudley from close range after only 2 minutes and we had to defend another free-kick from the same player as we seemed strangely ill-at-ease. However we began to settle down and Lee Smith got clear to shoot into the side-netting, but this was his last contribution as he soon limped off to be replaced by Josh Parsons. A free-kick from James Pilling was cleared off the line before we equalised after 18 minutes when Matt Day was fouled as he went up for Alan O’Brien’s corner and Mark Draycott scored from the penalty spot. We did get in some attacks, but did not trouble Mike McEntegart in the home goal and there were no further goals in the half.
O’Brien switched to the right after the interval and Charlie Mpi went close from his cross, but a defender cleared off the line. Parsons had a great chance from O’Brien’s cross but hit the post from close range and the home side survived a scramble in the goalmouth. We were well on top at this stage but failed to get that vital goal when it needed some composure. Mpi and Sam Grayley clashed in the area, but the chance was blocked and eventually it was the home side who were awarded the kick when we might have got another penalty
Draycott headed wide and a free-kick from James Pilling was far too long and evaded everyone, but Chalfont were not finished and broke clear against some poor defending for Glenn Yala to knock the ball in after 78 minutes to give the home side the money and a place in the next round. It was, to say the least, a disappointing performance, and we shall need to do better than this if we are to maintain our position in the league table.
We could hardly have had a worse start when Alan Headley reacted first to a free-kick from Remmel Clarke to beat Paul Strudley from close range after only 2 minutes and we had to defend another free-kick from the same player as we seemed strangely ill-at-ease. However we began to settle down and Lee Smith got clear to shoot into the side-netting, but this was his last contribution as he soon limped off to be replaced by Josh Parsons. A free-kick from James Pilling was cleared off the line before we equalised after 18 minutes when Matt Day was fouled as he went up for Alan O’Brien’s corner and Mark Draycott scored from the penalty spot. We did get in some attacks, but did not trouble Mike McEntegart in the home goal and there were no further goals in the half.
O’Brien switched to the right after the interval and Charlie Mpi went close from his cross, but a defender cleared off the line. Parsons had a great chance from O’Brien’s cross but hit the post from close range and the home side survived a scramble in the goalmouth. We were well on top at this stage but failed to get that vital goal when it needed some composure. Mpi and Sam Grayley clashed in the area, but the chance was blocked and eventually it was the home side who were awarded the kick when we might have got another penalty
Draycott headed wide and a free-kick from James Pilling was far too long and evaded everyone, but Chalfont were not finished and broke clear against some poor defending for Glenn Yala to knock the ball in after 78 minutes to give the home side the money and a place in the next round. It was, to say the least, a disappointing performance, and we shall need to do better than this if we are to maintain our position in the league table.
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