Long Melford 3 Southend Manor 3 (Long Melford won 5-4 on penalties)
Long Melford won a penalty shoot-out 5-4 after a rollercoaster of an FA Cup extra preliminary round replay against Southend Manor at Stoneylands tonight.
Home keeper Ben Devlin saved Jordan Fisher's spot kick, in sudden death, to seal victory.
Jamie Griffiths, Callum Hemson and Hassam Ally were all on target for the hosts as the match finished 3-3 after normal time, with no other goals in extra time.
Long Melford started brightly and could have scored early on. Nathan Rowe nodded wide from Callum Hemson's cross inside the first two minutes, and a free-kick by Griffiths was safely gathered by keeper Jacob Adams.
However, Southend Manor were gifted an opening goal in the eighth minute.
A tame back pass by defender Anthony Waugh was intercepted by Jordan Chambers, and the Manor skipper kept his composure to slide the ball beyond Ben Devlin from close-in.
That was a soft goal to concede, but the Villagers stuck to their task. Jacob Brown had a 20-yard shot on the turn deflected narrowly wide of the far post, while Rowe shot straight at the keeper on 28 minutes.
Jamie Bradbury's side had strong appeals for a penalty waved away in the 40th minute. Griffiths' goalbound shot was blocked by Adams, and the Manor keeper then appeared to impede Rowe while smothering the loose ball. But play was allowed to continue.
It looked like game over when Manor doubled their lead, in the 44th minute.
Callum Fitzer deceived two defenders to create some space and then crash in a rising shot which beat Devlin, only to cannon back off the underside of the bar. But Bill Rungay reacted first to head the rebound into an unguarded net.
The Villagers gave themselves a lifeline in first-half injury-time, thanks to a smart finish from Griffiths, who directed his low shot into the far corner of the net.
And just three minutes into the second half and the hosts were level, thanks to a clinical finish by Hemson. A cross looped over keeper Adams but Hemson still had much work to do before drilling his low shot home from 10 yards out.
Manor regained their lead in the 72nd minute, an unmarked Alfie Walker connecting with a header which flew into the net from just outside the six-yard box.
But the Villagers were on level terms just six minutes later, thanks to Hassan Ally's delightful lob over stranded keeper Adams to force extra-time and ultimately penalties.
Rowe, Griffiths, Kyle Hurley, Dan Smith and Archie Pether all scored their penalties.
- Kirkley & Pakefield lost 3-2 away at Wroxham in an FA Cup replay. Russell and Cox were on target for the visitors.
- Stowmarket Town won 3-1 away at Hadleigh United, in front of a crowd of 212, in a Thurlow Nunn Premier clash.
Joel Glover gave the Brettsiders the lead with a wonderful free kick in the 15th minute, but goals by George Quantrell (39), Christy Finch (46) and David Cowley (57) won it for the visitors
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