Report

Cricklade Town FC 3 Purton FC 2

With 45 minutes to kick off the game looked in a bit of doubt as the rain fell heavily, luckily the rain stopped to enable the cup tied to be played after the 3^rd time of asking.

Purton started the better of the two teams and passed the ball better on a difficult pitch, whereas Cricklade found it difficult to keep the ball for any length of time.

The first real chance dropped against the run of play as Povey crossed deep from the left into the Purton box, as Carter and McCrae jumped the ball dropped to Hogg who should have shot, but chose to cross instead as the ball was head behind for a corner. Minute’s later Cricklade’s danger man spun the defence and looked to be getting clear only to be pulled down; with no booking give the free-kick was struck well over by Carter.

Purton will be looking back at the next 10 minutes and wondering how they were not in front, as Moulden tried to play from the back with a deft header the didn’t find his defensive partner Smith, as Hall ran through the defence and squared the ball to Richards who placed the ball past Mitchell in the Cricklade goal only to be denied by Proberts on the line. A minute later Purton wasted another great chance as the ball was knocked long over the left of Cricklade’s defence, as Hall outpaced Moulden to the ball and squared to ball into the penalty spot for Hall to volley over.

Those chances were to prove costly, as Povey stole the ball off Child’s on the right hand side, and with a quick ball through the square Purton defence Carter was free, with a heavy touch he rounded Cowley, then stepped inside Hall and placed the ball into the empty net for 1-0, a lead that was short lived as Cricklade conceded a soft free-kick on the edge of the box, Coole the dead ball specialist miss-kicked the ball, with the shot going well wide a deflection guided the ball into the bottom corner.

The equaliser put Cricklade on the back foot for a few minutes as again Hall went through only to shoot over from a tight angle, again Purton lack of ability in front of goal cost them, as Smith fed Povey down the left to cross into the danger area, as Carter and McCrae challenged for the ball it fell to Price to hammer the ball home from 15 yards.

With minutes left in the half Cricklade again concede a free-kick on the edge of the box, this time Coole struck the ball well and was denied by a good save with the ball curling into the far post.

The first half was a good advert for the competition with both sides committed to the game, and end to end action, Purton will feel aggrieved with missing some good chances, but an even cup tie that could go anyway.

H/T 2-1

The second half was nothing like the pace of the first half, with Cricklade taking the sting out of the game Purton could not find any momentum to create pressure on the Cricklade backline, and on 64 minutes Povey found the 3^rd and Cricklade’s two goal cushion, a Free-kick from the right found Povey unmarked on the 6 yard line, his first shot was saved by the feet of Cowley, as the ball dropped to Povey again he bundled the ball over the line for 3-1. Minutes later Mitchell kept the 2 goal lead with a great save from a Purton cross that was met by Hall, only to watch as Mitchell got down well and saved well.

It looked more like Cricklade would increase their lead as Purton unable to find their passes and Cricklade breaking quickly, but some good opportunities were wasted with a bad final ball, and close off-side decisions, something that could have cost them in the dying minutes.

On 85 minutes the tie turned after a cross from the left was not dealt with as Purton shot was saved by Mitchell, then the rebound blocked by Moulden, only to fall to Hall to bundle over the line.

With Cricklade now looking a bit shaky Purton rattled the bar on 89 minutes, as the ball was pumped into the box, Hall turned Smith and struck the bar from 20 yards as Mitchell was stranded.

A good cup tie, that could have gone either way, Purton will be disappointed they didn’t show much in the second half, as Cricklade look comfortable and should have increased their lead until the last 5 minutes.

F/T 3-2

Match Stats

                        Cricklade Town                   Purton     

Shots                     8                                     8                                    

On target                5                                     3       

Corners                  4                                     4

Bookings                

Yellow                     1                                     4

Red                        0                                     0