Herne Bay suffered the heartache of going out in the lottery of penalty shoot outs having battled with a man down for nearly an hour and against the backdrop of a colourful but noisy firework display in a neighbouring garden.

“When we went down to 10 men, we were the better side by a country mile”, said Herne Bay manager Sam Denly, “we’ve had some good chances. The game was won & lost on penalties which is very cruel. It’s frustrating, we had opportunities and we gifted them a goal as well. It should have been won 1-0, job done, move on. I’m gutted for the lads”.

Having clawed their way back into this tie in the final seconds of the first match, Bury Town, almost opened the scoring in this replay after 7 minutes. Jack Delo blocked Alfie Beddingham’s effort with his legs. Then, Bay skipper Liam Quinn, on the quarter hour mark, put Bay ahead as he had done in the first encounter, heading home at the far post from a left wing corner.

Nine minutes before the break Bury might have equalised, Alfie Beddingham beat the offside appeals squared to Ollie Hughes but his shot tricked wide of Delo’s right hand post. Nine minutes after the turnaround, though, the visitors drew level. Jack Delo’s punched clearance gained little distance, the ball dropped at Matt Collins’ feet and he stabbed home the equaliser.

With 23 minutes to go Bay suffered a body blow. Gary Sayer received his marching orders, fouling when the last man, denying a goal scoring opportunity. Fortunately for the home side the infringement did not take place inside the penalty area or the pain might well have been doubled. But now, Bay played some of their best football of the night. Danny Williams went through in the 77^th minute only to be denied by a last ditch tackle that deflected his shot sufficiently over the bar.

It was the first of three chances each separated by three minutes for the same striker. The second saw his shot deflected wide then with barely seven minutes left Daniel Johnson went on a surging run down the left, visiting players left stranded in his wake. His cross was perfect but Williams blasted over the bar with the goal at his mercy. Extra time was a cagey affair although Hughes ought to have won it for Bury in the 100^th minute but, miraculously, Nathan Eastwood saved the day on the line.

So then to penalties. Hasler went first for Herne Bay, his shot saved by O’Sulivan, Collins made no mistake and Bury were one to the good. Russo stepped up, shot and scored, then Delo saves Allen’s spot kick. One apiece and Bay were back in this. Elliott Cutts put Bay ahead but Ollie Hughes brought it back to two each. Horror for Bay though as James Turner’s penalty rises high above the crossbar but wait, Jack Delo saves from Justin Miller and it stays level at 2-2. Danny Walder, Bay’s regular penalty taker blasts Bay ahead but Patterson keeps it level at 3-3.

Bay skipper Liam Quinn steps up, this has to go in, but collective gasps behind the goal greet O’Sullivan’s save. Now all Phil Weavrs has to do is beat Delo and Bury are through. He does with a penalty of some confidence and Herne Bay’s best FA Trophy journey to date is over.

“I’m proud of the lads tonight, we had 10 men for an hour and we were the better side”, said Denly, “it’s a competition we were never going to win but we all wanted to get on in it and we should have done but it’s all about bouncing back now in the league. We’re playing catch up now and if we win those games we’ll be right up there”.

 

 

Herne Bay: Jack Delo, Giorgio Russo, Gary Sayer, Dan Johnson, Liam Quinn, Nathan Eastwood, Danny Walder, Danny Williams (James Turner 95), Mark Lovell (Connor Sanders 69), Kane Phillip (Elliot Cutts 34), Sam Hasler.

Subs not used: Joe Nelder, Steven Ita.

Sent Off: Gary Sayer     Cautioned: Sam Hasler.

 

Bury Town: Neil O’Sullivan, Tevan Allen, James Patterson, Matthew Collins, Phil Weavers, Darcy De’ath, Alfie Beddingham (Cameron Nicholls 105), Craig Nurse (Alex Steed 34), Ollie Hughes, Justin Miller, Daniel Hammett.

Subs not used: John Kennedy (only three subs named).

Sent Off: None  Cautioned: Justin Miller

 

Referee:  Ryan Whitaker            Assistant Referees: Peter Cruise & Isaac Searle.

 

Man of the Match: Phil Weavers (Bury Town)

 

Herne Bay (1) 1

Liam Quinn 14

 

Bury Town (0) 1

Matthew Collins 54

 

Bury Town won 4-3 on penalties

 

Attendance: 131

 

FA Challenge Trophy 2^nd Round Qualifying Replay

Tuesday 17^th November 2015.

(at The Altira Park Stadium, Winch’s Field)

 

by Peter Guise

 

(photo credit: Herne Bay FC Library photos – Liam Quinn)