Waltham Forest 1-1 Wadham Lodge (Wadham win 4-2 on penalties)
Firstly congratulations must go to the ground staff who made tonight’s fixture possible.
The car park was still being pumped clear as the whistle started this derby cup contest.
With a clear sky and the moon looking down Forest were looking to bounce back from the hard to take defeat at the weekend.
A game where Forest were the better team for the first half, then crumbled in the second. The red card last week was repeated again this time in Forest’s favour with former Forest midfielder Steven Ellery sent off for kicking out after a tackle.
At this stage both teams had chances with Raul Esteban making a decent left handed save from close range.
There was a penalty shout from Lodge that was waved away by the ref and shortly after this Forest pressed looking to take advantage of the extra man advantage.
This finally paid off after a long ball down the right from Kubilay Akbayrak to Didier Grah O’Pily who glided by the defender and slotted in the far corner.
Further pressure but little finish for Forest caused nerves at the back whilst Wadham Lodge remained in the cup tie and their 2-7-11 partnership down the right continued to find space and cause the Forest defence issues.
Lodge continued to look dangerous at the start of the second half and after a number of chances the equaliser came from a penalty when Charlie Georgiou made the most of some physical contact from Akbayrak. The ball was sent home and the score stayed that way till full time 1-1.
In truth, Wadham should have put the game to rest in normal time missing several good chances and dominating the second half.
Forest looked a shadow of the side that had played with such heart on Saturday and sadly the penalties were a formality for Lodge winning the tie 4-2 on penalties – Dan Tulloch and Abiola Balogun missing for Forest while the visitors scored all four of their spot kicks.
Forest now take on Sawbridgeworth Town at home in the Essex Senior League this Saturday.
Report by Peter Willoughby.
