Crusaders edge out Centurions

We edged through into the next round of the Red Insure Cup on a chilly night at the Corinium Stadium, both sides taking the opportunity to include a number of youngsters, and we scored the only goal of the game early on in what was a rather scrappy affair with a number of misses chances. We were still without Paul Strudley and James Rusby, but Matt Day returned after his one-game suspension.
It was one of the youngsters who netted the goal that won the game when he got on the end of a free-kick from Mark Draycott after only 16 minutes following a foul on the striker. Draycott took the kick himself and Matt-Berry-Hargreaves was in the right place to finish it off in the crowded penalty area. We had the edge throughout the first half, Draycott being involved in most of the attacks, although James Clark fired well wide from a free-kick, again for a foul on the Hungerford striker.
It looked as if another goal might be decisive for us , but it was the home side who came out aggressively to build up some strong attacks early in the second half and Shane Gore had to pull off a good full-length save to prevent an equaliser. Draycott earned a corner which came to nothing, but we wasted possession on a number of occasions with long balls which eluded all our attackers and the home side were still in the game, but failed to finish off any of their attacks as we defended stoutly, holding on to claim the win.
Team; Gore, Tyler, Thomas , Berry -Hargreaves, Day, Whittingham, Stow , Jones(Rees), Goodger, Draycott, Clark. Subs; Harrison, Brown, Passey, O’Brien.