KNOCKOUT CUP FIRST ROUND: United made to work

BRADFORD United gained their expected victory over Foresters in the Chantry Digital Limited of Trowbridge-sponsored Knockout Cup - but were made to fight all the way.

Aiden Blowers opened the scoring with a header after 10 minutes but Foresters struck back a minute later when Patrick Johnson bundled the ball into the net following Bradford's failure to clear a corner.

Dan Jones restored United's lead eight minutes later, neatly rounding off a flowing move.

Ricky Montacute added a third a minute after the break and scored a second with a fine individual effort midway through the half.

Foresters then forced a defensive error from United and Pat Johnson lobbed the keeper from 12 yards and pressed hard to try to reduce the deficit further.

But they were caught on the break when Elliot Hinton scored Bradford's fifth after the Foresters keeper had blocked an initial shot.

Bratton 2 Blue Circle 2 AET (Bratton win 4-2 on penalties)

BRATTON made it through to the next round after winning a penalty shootout.

The first half of the match finished goalless, with the game only coming to life in the second.

Mark Lanfear put the home side in front before Dean Osment equalised for Blue Circle to make sure that extra time was needed.

The Cement Men then took the lead in the first period and thought they had the game wrapped up.

But with time running out, Lanfear scored his second to take it to penalties.

Broughton 4 The Lamb 2

BROUGHTON secured a home tie in the next round against Frome Town Sports after beating The Lamb, all their goals coming from Leigh Rowles-Hitchcock.

The Lamb scored through Charlie Morgan and Dean Gumm.

Castle Combe 6 Bromham 1

Third Division Combe shocked first division Bromham with a six-strong blast.

Combe began brightly and it paid off when Carl Dawson cleverly rounded the Bromham keeper to put them a goal up.

Karl Sharratt added a second and third goal before the break and then completed his hat-trick.

A Matt Hooper corner was skilfully converted with a back heel flick by Dawson as he added his second of the match.

But the goal of the game went to Matthew Hooper with a 20-yard lofted drive into the top right-hand corner. Bromham scored their only goal through Zak Hartley.

Chippenham Old Boys 2 Heytesbury 0

A GOAL in each half was enough to see Chippenham Old Boys beat Second Division outfit Heytesbury.

The first-half goal came from James Pope, Shane Bell netting after the break

Fever FC 1 Frome Town Sports 1 AET (Frome win 3-2 on penalties

FROME Town Sports were made to fight all the way by Fever FC to progress to the next round as the new boys only lost on penalties.

Fever held the lead at half time with a goal from Mark Billett, but a second-half equaliser from Damien Edwards sent the match into extra time.

With both defences holding out, penalties decided who went through and in the end it was First Division nerves that won through 3-2.

Freshford United 6 Worton & Cheverell 4 AET

A GAME of two halves nearly resulted in a cup upset until two minutes from the end of normal time when Freshford equalised to take the tie into extra time.

Freshford dominated the first half and a 3-0 score line at half-time showed the difference between an experienced First Division side and a new young Third Division outfit, Rich Bliha, Tom Giles and Simon Kitchen getting the goals.

However the second half was a different story. Worton and Cheverell began to show why they had only lost one game previously so far this season.

The away side began to apply pressure and were rewarded after 48 minutes with a goal from Ross Sweet.

Another goal three minutes later by Patrick Bromley seemed to rattle the home side and the sores were level after Ross Sweet scored his 2nd on 62 minutes.

Worton and Cheverell continued to pressurise Freshford and went into the lead after 67 minutes with a goal from Jake Flower.

It seemed that a cup upset was on the cards but Freshford equalised with two minutes to go in normal time through Mike Little.

The game was nip and tuck in extra time but Worton and Cheverell could have had the stuffing knocked out of them when the home side were awarded a penalty after 100 minutes.

The resulting kick was put away by Tom Giles, and while Worton and Cheverell continued to push for an equaliser, they eventually ran out of steam and Freshford scored their final goal after 108 minutes through Phil Little which put the result beyond doubt.

North Bradley AFC 2 United FC 0

UNITED FC carried their struggling league form into this cup match and came off second best to hosts North Bradley AFC.

Bradley won the match with a goal in each half from Rob Clark and Jason Brooks.

Semington Magpies 5 Steeple Ashton FC 1

IN A game Semington pretty much dominated from start to finish, Nigel Hall gave the Magpies the lead from the penalty spot after only 12 minutes.

The Magpies second was scored by Kelvin Lockwood five minutes before the break.

Ashton's first real shot of any note was by Coveney who saw his volley brilliantly saved by Jenkins on the hour mark.

Mark James then scored Semington’s third on 65 minutes.

A minute later great work by Mortimer to sets Rowley free, his cross was met by Lee Hayward for 3-1.

With the game flowing from end to end, Lockwood burst through the Ashton defence to net the Magpies fourth and his second with 19 minutes left to play.

Andy Harrison then grabbed Semington’s fifth after a brilliant save by Bell to complete the scoring.

The Deverills 1 Lavington 2 (AET)

LAVINGTON overcame First Division rivals The Deverills thanks to an extra-time winner from Ben House.

The first half belonged to hosts The Deverills as they went into the break with a one-goal lead given to them by Dan Hargreaves.

In the second half House scored the equaliser to set up extra time and give him the chance to score the all important winner.

The Stiffs 0 Seend United Reserves 5

THE Stiffs poor run continued as they were dumped out of the cup at home to Seend United Reserves.

match started badly for the hosts as they scored an own goal to gift Seend the lead.

It then got worse as, by half time, they were three down as Barry Holloway and Matt Flemming scored.

The second period saw Seend score a further two goals through Flemming again and Dan Moore to complete the rout.

Westwood Social Club 1 Calne Eagles 3

THIS all-Division Two clash saw Calne Eagles triumph in the fourth time the teams have played each other in little more a year.

As with all the other encounters there was little to choose between the sides.

The first half was evenly contested with both teams intent on playing attacking football.

Calne took the lead after 20 minutes, when Westwood’s Adam Stephens was penalised for handball inside the box.

Westwood’s goalkeeper Martin Cowdrey got a hand to Stu Windsor’s penalty but could not stop the ball from hitting the back of the net.

Westwood were prevented from equalising soon after, when Ben Cowdrey raced clean through on goal but saw his shot well saved by Eagles’ keeper Andy Windsor.

At the other end, Brett Cullen saw his strong header tipped round the post by Cowdrey.

Calne doubled their lead after 50 minutes, when Phil Gay beat Martin Cowdrey with a sweet strike from 20 yards out.

Ten minutes later Brett Cullen secured Calne’s place in the second round when he rifled home an unstoppable shot from 15 yards out.

Westwood, however, continued to press and prolific striker Dan Thorne was unlucky when he saw a sweet shot curl just wide of the post.

Andy Windsor also made another impressive save, once again denying skilful striker Ben Cowdrey with a superb reaction stop.

With 20 minutes left, Dan Thorne gave his side some hope with a superb individual goal.

But Calne shut up shop in the closing stages and never looked like surrendering their place in the next round.

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