On Tuesday evening, Western league side, Barnstaple Town, were the visitors to Cullompton for the second round of the Devon St Lukes Bowl.
Barnstaple kicked off looking to show they play in a higher league. For the first 20 minutes they were well on top, taking the lead when a miskick by a Cullompton defender allowed a Barnstaple forward to open the scoring.
From the restart Cullompton began to find their form, attacking down both wings, and their persistence paid off, when Cameron Webb calmly lobbed the keeper from 12 yards to equalise.
Cullompton kept up the pressure and were rewarded when Aiden raced into the box, before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the top corner.
Barnstaple seemed shocked by going a goal behind and were relieved when the referee blew for halftime.
Kicking off in the second half, Cullompton were on the attack again, continuing with their first half performance.
They were playing with confidence, chasing the ball down and defending when they needed too.
Barnstaple were rattled at this stage, with a few off the ball incidents, which saw Cameron being carried off, and a few minutes later, Aiden was also helped off.
Between all of this, Cullompton created some good chances; a free kick from Lloyd was tipped over by the keeper, then Braden hooked his shot over.
From their first meaningful attack of the half, Barnstaple equalised when a shot from the edge of the area, was deflected in.
Barnstaple couldn’t believe their luck and were determined to make Cullompton pay for their missed chances.
To their credit, Cullompton kept calm and were still the likely team to score. In the final minutes, Drew Sloan latched on to a loose ball, and from fully 30 yards, sent it crashing against the inside of the post and away to safety.
There was only time for the restart, when the referee brought 90 minutes to an end.
Now the dreaded penalties.
Cullompton stepped up first, and scored. Unfortunately they missed the following three, so went out of the competition.
Final score Cullompton 2 Barnstaple 2. Barnstaple won 3 -1 on penalties.
Rev the roving reporter
Comments are closed.