Report | Good day at the office as City win on penalties

It was a good day at the office for City as we made progress in the Isuzu FA Trophy courtesy of a 4-3 penalty shoot-out victory over higher level Slough Town after it finished 1-1 after 90 minutes.

The opening exchanges saw the home side moving the ball around well without hurting us too much.

As we started to get into our stride, a corner was cleared by the hosts before Marcus Day saw an effort bravely blocked and then Joe Hanks was off target with an ambitious attempt from distance.

A teasing corner from Harry Pinchard was destined for the head of Michael O’Regan, up from the back, but the home ‘keeper got ahead of him to tip it over.

Shortly afterwards, a neat move ended with a chance opening up for Elis Watts, but he was off target.

There was a chance for home skipper, John Goddard, who dragged his shot wide from just outside the area and then Ben Richards-Everton bravely blocked from Jaiden Drakes-Thomas.

Neither team were able to get a hold of the game as we reached the midway point in the first half and, at times, it was somewhat scrappy.

As the hosts burst forward, Harvey Walker drove a low cross into the danger zone as the ball just evaded the reach of Wiktor Makowski and the front-man found himself in a similar position shortly afterwards as our hosts upped the tempo.

On the half-hour mark, Makowski held off the challenge of Richards-Everton before getting in a strike that flashed just wide.

A good save from Jared Thompson denied Goddard as Makowski lurked with intent, whilst at the other end, City put an effort that landed just over the crossbar.

Ed Williams pumped a free-kick into the area where the home side were able to clear just ahead of Watts. It was a crucial clearance and then from the corner that followed, we were able to take the lead when the ‘keeper failed to deal with the ball and Day was able to flick home despite the best efforts of defender, Brian Nelson, to clear off the line.

It gave us the lead with just five minutes remaining of the opening period as the home side pushed for a leveller in the wake of the goal. Richards-Everton had to be alert to clear off the line from Makowski after Daniel Roth had driven in an effort towards goal.

We almost snatched a second when the ‘keeper failed to clear properly and Day nearly profited before Sion Spence was denied by Scott Davies in our next foray forward as we ended the first half leading by a goal created out of nothing.

The second half started with Joe Hanks making a positive break into the area but the home side were able to clear their lines.

After appeals for a City penalty were waved away after Day went down inside the area, the home side were able to equalise on the hour as substitute, Ansu Janneh was able to find the back of the net following a flicked header into his path from Kiki Oshilaja.

As the home side started to ask most of the questions again, Walker’s low ball across the face of goal caused concern as we scrambled clear under pressure. The next raid for the hosts ended with Drakes-Thomas going close with a powerful drive.

In the meantime, we made a couple of changes with Dylan Jones and Sopuruchukwu Obieri enterting the fray.

The home side went close again through Harvey Walker as we battled hard to keep them at bay. We did make a break through Jones and his inviting cross just had too much pace on it for Hanks to be able to make a connection in front of goal.

A fantastic reflex save by Thompson denied Makowski’s close range header as we entered the final quarter-of-an-hour. Then Jones did well to clear off the line after Thompson had made the initial save from Drakes-Thomas as he latched onto a Jacob Borgnis pass and as the ball stayed alive, Jones was on hand to clear.

As the clock ticked down, Watts linked up with Pinchard who was denied and then as the ball fell to Jones, he fired over. In the final minute, O’Regan forced a corner which came to nothing, but we kept the pressure on as we entered stoppage time.

A counter-attack from the hosts ended with some good defending from Mitchell Roberts, who entered the action with five minutes to go, as he forced Drakes-Thomas wide after he picked up a loose ball following a Makowski raid.

It proved to be the last action as it ended 1-1 and so the game went straight to a penalty shoot-out.

The home side went first as Davies rattled the crossbar with a powerful effort. Hanks was first up for City and he stayed cool to slot home despite the ‘keeper going the right way.

Next up was home skipper, Goddard, who fired home down the middle. It was then the turn of Watts who had to wait for things to settle down behind the goal amongst the fans. He eventually saw his effort saved by Adam Desbois.

Roth found the net for the hosts despite Thompson getting his hand to the ball. For City, Pinchard was next to take and he sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to find the net with no problem at all.

The home team’s fourth penalty was taken by Makowski who fired well over, giving us the chance to edge back in front as Obieri stepped up and sent the ‘keeper the wrong way.

The pressure was on Walker who had to score to keep his side in the tie and he managed to do just that meaning that Ed Williams was given the responsibility to send us through and he made absolutely no mistake, top left hand corner for us to win 4-3 and head into the next round.

CITY | J. Thompson, Leadbitter (Roberts 85), O’Regan, Williams, Spence (Obieri 67), Watts, Hanks, Richards-Everton, Day (Jones 67), Pinchard, Emmett. Subs not used: C. Thompson, Vye.

Goal(s): Day (39)