Tilehurst YM crashed out of the Ted Cambridge Cup on Sunday morning after being edged out on penalties by The Mod at Christchurch Meadows.
A near perfect first half performance from Tilehurst YM saw them dominate possession and allowed them to create 3 decent openings. But it was from set-pieces that YM looked most threatening and in the 20th minute they went close when Joe Edwards corner was met at the near post by skipper David Gill whoses header glanced just wide of the far post.
The lively Michael Harvey was again tireless working the channels and in the 25th minute his pace and determination saw him drive at the left full back and whip in a teasing ball that flashed along the edge of the 6 yard box missing the advancing Tilehurst YM players.
The deadlock was broken on 35 minutes by the impressive Joe Edwards. A ball played through the middle was bouncing through to the edge of the Mod penalty area where Joe outmuscled his defender before calmly slotting the ball past the advancing Jamie Carstairs in the Mod goal.
The second half was a much different picture and The Mod matched Tilehurst YM by changing to a 5 man midfield, and this proved effective as they clawed their way back in to the game.
It was still Tilehurst who made the early running however, and they were extremely unlucky not to be awarded a penalty on 55 minutes. Another piece of trickery from Edwards found him surging into The Mod's 18 yard box, where an agricultural challenge from the big defender led to what seemed to be a stonewall penalty right in front of the Tilehurst YM travelling fans. And they were shocked when the otherwise excellent referee waved Tilehurst appeals away. Even The Mod's own supporters acknowledged that they had seen their team get away with murder!
The game continued to ebb and flow until the 65th minute when disaster struck for Tilehurst YM. The Mod's lively centre forward Matthew Anderson started to cause problems for the YM defence, without really creating any clear openings but it was he who capitalised on some sloppy defending.
His run down the right and cross in to the box was met at the near post by Tilehurst Centre Back Matt Gill who's outstreched boot clumsily put the ball in to his own net for 1-1.
The game was played in a good spirit with the Tilehurst support on great from vocally, and it was no surprise that Anderson peeled away and ran directly over to them, slid to his knees and cupped his ears, leading to EVERYONE p*ssing themselves. This was worth the entry fee alone!
Some late pressure from the Mod led to them earning several corners but the game petered out to a 1-1 draw in the driving rain. Neither team created any chances of substance in the following 30 minutes so a penalty shoot out ensued.
The penalties went as follows:
Pen 1: Joe Edwards Saved The Mod Score
Pen 2: Bobby Buck Saved The Mod pen Saved
Pen 3: Ryan Maslen Saved The Mod pen Saved
Pen 4: Tim Waters Scores The Mod Score
Pen 5: Michael Buck Scores The Mod Score
3-2 on penalties and Tilehurst back to concentrating on the league next week.
