Villa win 3-1 on penalties

A pulsating cup tie that had to be eventually decided by penalties.

In a game of few chances Villa had the edge on opportunities but to their credit Fulwood were resilient throughout.Villa pressed from the start and good work by Sam Shone down the left forced two corners as the home side pushed for an early goal. Things looked even better on ten minutes when Liam Conway broke into the box giving the defender no alternative but to foul him. Anton Martin took the spot kick but unfortunately the keeper was able to save. Villa kept up the early pressure and two minutes later came close again when Anton Martin saw his lob shot saved. The initial breakthrough came after fifteen minutes, Anton Martin was again involved, this time as provider, he cut down the left before delivering a low cross which was met by Neil Bretherton whose right foot shot found the bottom corner.
The Villa lead lasted for six minutes, Fulwood had started to recover from the early onslaught and get more into the game. With their first serious attack they drew level when a ball down the left was not cleared and a low shot found the Villa net.

Euxton still had the better chances, on twenty six minutes Sam Shone was unlucky to see the keeper scramble back to save his lob shot. On thirty five minutes Liam Conway cut in from the right before flashing a left foot drive just wide. Two minutes later Fulwood put an effort just over the bar. Villa finished the half strongly but without regaining the lead.

The second half followed the pattern of the first with both teams competing well, again the better chances falling to the home side. On 55 minutes Villa won a free kick on the right, but the visitors kept out the effort, two minutes later Villa had a scare as a ball bouncing around their box was turned against the post. Villa came back and David Heald broke from midfield before releasing Liam Conway who forced a corner. Villa kept pressing throughout the second half.

At the back Rhys Crombie and James O'Loughlin were outstanding restricting the Fulwood forwards to half chances. For the last twenty minutes of normal time the game reached stalemate as extra time looked inevitable.

Euxton started the first period of extra time as they had started the game,determined to again put the visitors on the back foot. This worked well as within five minutes they had again pulled ahead. A through ball from midfield resulted in a race for the ball between Liam Conway and the Fulwood goal-keeper. Liam Conway won the race turning the ball into the net. It looked as if this would be the winning goal, but the visitors had other idea's they forced a corner which for once the home defence was not able to deal with and the ball was driven into the roof of the Villa net. For the remainder of extra time Villa pressed for a winner the Fulwood defence held firm.
It was now down to penalties and to which side held their nerve the best.

At last Villa were able to pull away from their opponents as Craig Chambers, Liam Conway, and John Salisbury were all successful from the spot, and Shaun Gibbs produced two penalty saves to see his side home. This had been a very tight game but on the number of chances created the final result was fair,but all credit to the visitors who were a very well disciplined side and certainly came to make a game of it.

Team - Gibbs, C.Chambers, O'Loughlin, Crombie, Swift, L.Conway, Heald,(M.Conway) Bradshaw, Bretherton, ( Winstanley ) Shone, ( Salisbury ) Martin.
 

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