Pennant get dream start in the FA Cup

Leyton Pennant……………..2

Wembley………………………1

(FA Cup First Round Qualifying)

THERE can surely be no more fitting way to start on the road to Wembley than actually beating them. That is precisely what Pennant did in the FA Cup first round qualifying on Saturday.

Although they cannot realistically expect to get anywhere near the twin towers themselves, getting through the four rounds of qualifying to the first round proper is something that all clubs at this level strive for.

But for the second season running, Pennant had a man sent off against Wembley at Wadham Lodge with the scores level and went on to win the match.

They made one change from the side that started on Tuesday against Chertsey. Colin Halpin came in at right-back replacing Tyrone Hercules. The versitile Cyril Baffour switched flanks.

In a first half devoid of excitement for much of the time their was much midfield probing but little in the way of goalmouth action. Pennant did have the ball in the net twice, John Lowe and Che Stadhart netting, but both efforts were disallowed for offside.

In a effort to spice things up for the second period, Pennant made two substitutions — replacing striker Billy Cove with Kevin Riley and full back Halpin with young midfielder Mitchell Evans.

But before the team could adjust to the changes they found themselves a goal down. Read, back helping out his defence, got in a terrible muddle on the edge of his box and lost possesion to Vincent, who took the ball around Clark Wells and shot into a empty net.

After a dodgy few minutes where they looked likely to conceed another goal, the home team roused themselves and hit back inside ten minutes.

A run by Read ended with his cross being headed out to the edge of the Wembley area where new boy Evans side-footed it straight back into the net.

The Lilywhites then started to play with a new belief and it seemed for a few minutes that they were in total command. Then after a scuffle between John Kent, of Pennant, and Hall, of Wembley, Kent was dismissed for aiming a kick at his opponent.

It mattered not and the character of the side, so prominent in the second half of last season, began to re-assert itself.

On 70 minutes they won the tie was a glorious goal. Balfour collected the ball deep in his own half and went on a determined run which carried him past three opponents to the edge of the box.

He laid the ball across to Stadhart who fired a curling shot around Beckles and a cluster of defenders into the net.

Leyton Pennant: Wells, Baffour, Halpin (rep: Evans, 45min), Kent (sent off, 65), Silk, Salmon, Lowe, Nelson, Stadhart, Cove (rep: Riley, 45), Read. Sub not used: McLean.