Ten-man Rugby Town crashed out of the FA Vase First Round at MFL Premier side Boldmere St Michaels thanks to a last-minute Joe Lyng winner.
Rugby had led at half time through Romario Martin's 18th minute spot-kick, but the game turned with the same amount of normal time remaining when Valley defender Loyiso Recci received a red card whilst conceding an equalising penalty, before the Mikes struck again at the death to earn themselves a tie at Coventry United in the next round.
Carl Adams had named an unchanged starting line-up and bench for the game on the 3G surface at the Trevor Brown Memorial Ground, with two ex-Valleymen Conor Wright and Craig Milligan amongst the home side's substitutes.
The fixture was played out in blustery conditions, with the visitors enjoying the benefits of this behind their backs in the opening period.
Therefore it was no surprise that Rugby made the better start, with both Liam Francis and Lewis Rankin missing out on decent chances to open the scoring in the early exchanges.
Francis headed Rankin's corner over the bar from a good position and then Rankin could only steer an incisive through pass by Danico Johnson straight at Boldmere keeper Lewis Fenney.
Johnson tested Fenney himself with a strong shot, before Martin gave Valley the lead after Simeon Tulloch had been felled in the box by Fenney - after the keeper had failed to gather Martin's initial strike.
Looking to maximise their first half wind advantage, Rugby pressed for another, with Fenney parrying Tulloch's on-target shot - which led to a further opportunity for Richard Blythe, but the midfielder was just unable to get the ball under the necessary control.
The hosts then finally tested Matt Hill in the Town goal with a strike from twenty yards by Ryan Shaw, which Hill comfortably took, before Owen Parry rattled the frame with a fiercely struck free-kick.
Blythe's close range bundled effort - which was cleared off the line - signalled the end of the half.
A goal adrift and with the wind now in their favour, the Mikes inevitably pushed from the off after the interval - though without really generating a clear-cut opportunity of note.
The game-changing incident came when Recci was adjudged to have pushed Rikardo Reid in the back after Town had failed to deal properly with a dangerous run and ball into the box from Ben Usher-Shipway, with Recci dismissed for a second yellow of the game and Reid picking himself to side foot the awarded penalty past Hill.
The leveller and the man advantage gave the home side further impetus, although Johnson did go on to hit the post with a low shot from the edge of the area.
However with extra time looming, the winner arrived in the 90th minute when substitute Lyng rose highest to head Parry's corner into the top corner of the net.
Valley
Line-up: Hill; Kavanagh, Perkins, Recci, Francis; Hayden, Blythe, Rankin (Evans); Tulloch, Martin (Edwards), Johnson. Subs not used: Blake, Rosser, Steele. Booked: Perkins, Johnson, Kavanagh, Recci. Sent Off: Recci.
Boldmere line-up: Fenney, Gayle, Mitchell, Brauns, Craven, Abraham, Skinner, Shaw, Reid, Parry, Shearer. Subs: Wright, Lyng, Milligan, Holmes, Usher-Shipway. |