9 man Bedworth United crash out of the FA Trophy in an eventful 3-1 home defeat to 10 men Sherwood Colliery.
The Greenbacks started the better of the two sides. Parrott knocked the ball high to Letford who knocked down for Grocott who unleashed a brilliant outside the boot volley from 25 yards, and forced visitors keeper Pierremont to make a fantastic save to tip the ball over for a corner.
Despite the positive start, Sherwood took the lead. Good play from Sherwood’s forward players allowed space for Ewan Robson to be teed up from just outside the area and drilled his shot low into the bottom corner, 0-1 after 12 minutes.
Individual brilliance nearly brought Bedworth level. Dexter Walters picked up the ball from 30 yards and unleashed a thunderbolt of a shot that was somehow pushed onto the crossbar from Pierrepont.
But Sherwood Colliery doubled their lead on 25 minutes. A rare mistake from Parrott let the ball run off his boot, and allowed Duhameau to run through on goal with just O’Brien to beat. The striker confidently dispatched his shot past O’Brien to make it 0-2.
Things got even worse for The Greenbacks as the hosts were reduced to 10 men after Ryan Shaw was shown a straight red card for a late challenge.
HALF TIME: Bedworth United 0-2 Sherwood Colliery
After the interval, Bedworth started the much better side despite a man down and were forcing Sherwood further and further back as the game went on. Early chances from Letford and substitute Sanderson-Ellis gave a glimpse of hope of getting the hosts back into the game but neither tested the keeper.
But on 70 minutes, The Greenbacks grabbed a deserved goal back in the tie. A great free kick delivery from Luke Rowe was nodded back into the danger zone by Sanderson-Ellis for his strike partner Jonathan Letford to squeeze past the goalkeeper to set the game up for a nervy finish. 2-1.
Bedworth were really piling the pressure on the visitors, dominating possession and continuously being on the front foot.
However, Stuart Storer’s men were dealt another major blow of turning the game around with just ten minutes to go. Chris Cox received his second card of the season following a late tackle, which on first viewing, looked very harsh and unfortunate to have been dismissed. Nevertheless, Bedworth were down to 9 trying to find a leveller.
But the afternoon was to get even more frantic and chaotic as Sherwood’s captain Jamie Fox received a second yellow card to make it 9 vs 10 in the remaining minutes.
The Greenbacks were throwing everything forward, with the big centre back Joe Magunda playing as a second striker to Sanderson-Ellis and getting some joy with aerial duals that were creating chances and winning set pieces.
As Bedworth were pushing forward, this gave Sherwood the chance to counter on a couple of occasions to try and seal their place in the next round. Ewan Robson placed his effort from 12 yards just wide whilst substitute Micah Jebbison was brilliantly denied a one on one chance from Liam O’Brien, not once but on two separate occasions to keep The Greenbacks in with slightest of chance of equalising.
And that save nearly paid off for The Greenbacks as substitute Adam Hanson came within a couple of inches of scoring a sensation equaliser. Sanderson-Ellis laid the ball back to Hanson who was just outside the box, and struck his shot with power but saw the ball rise just over the bar.
Despite the 9 men of Bedworth showing a lot of courage, Sherwood sealed their place in the next round of the FA Trophy with a third goal in the 96th minute. A loose pass from the back was latched upon by Robson, and he powered forward and brushed off two Bedworth players before dinking the ball over Liam O’Brien to cement the win.
The full time whistle went and it was a feeling of Deja vu at The Oval, another cup defeat at the first attempt and a first half performance that left too much for the home side to do in the second half. A determined and battling second half gave the Bedworth fans something to get behind but was just outdone by the dismissals.
FULL TIME: Bedworth United 1-3 Sherwood Colliery
STARTING LINE UP:
O’Brien, Moore, Rowe, Parrott, Dean, Shaw, Walters (Sanderson-Ellis), Grocott (Hanson), Letford (Magunda), Stone (Paddock)
Unused subs:
Roggero
Attendance: 115
