ETON MANOR SQUEEZE THROUGH ON PENALTIES AFTER CUP CLASSIC AT GOFFS LANE

* The crowd was announced as 25 people for this game - this was the main stand just prior to kick off - luckily a few more supporters joined as the game started to watch and give their teams some vocal encouragement. The club whose roots lie firmly in the East London area have ground-shared for a number of years at various venues - If you are local why not pop down and give a great club with lots of history some much needed support. 

It was a real cup classic at Goffs Lane on Wednesday evening as Eton Manor and West Essex played out a six goal thriller in the Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy Quarter-Final. Looking back on the game it'll be the visitors who will be very frustrated at not going through as they hit the post twice during the game but full credit must be given to Manor who never gave up and equalised in injury time to make it 3-3 and send the game to kicks from the penalty mark despite being reduced to 10 men with around 20 minutes of the game left. The match will live long in the memory of the small crowd who gathered to witness it. 

West Essex were 2-1 up on half time thanks to two very well taken goals by Michael Mignot - the first was a shot from the edge of the box which went in the net off the underside of the bar with the second particularly impressive curling shot from just inside the box. In the middle of Mignot's two goals Josh Sykes (who is dual registered with Ryman D1(N) side Heybridge Swifts) popped up at the far post with a header for Eton Manor. 

In the second half Eton were awarded a penalty kick when the referee adjudged the West Essex played to have handled on the line - it's very hard to see from the replay if it was or not? Eton made it 2-2 before they were reduced to 10 men after a second booking offence. 

West Essex came back to make it 2-3 when from a free kick a combination Tom Macleod and possibly a touch from the Manor defender put the ball in the back of the net. 

It was looking like that would be the final score as the match drifted into injury time with the West Essex bench instructing their players to run the ball into the corners and manage the game out. A long ball up front from Manor caught the away defence out and allowed substitute Michael Castle to lift the ball over Jack Coker in the away goal in the most dramatic finish to the game. If just about (in my opinion) beat Mignot's second goal to the goal of the game! 

The game went straight to penalty kicks with Manor keeper Michael Corderoy the hero for his side. He saved one of West Essex's kicks and then scored the winner with their fifth kick to make the score 5-3. 

FULL MATCH HIGHLIGHTS inc all the goal and penalty kicks



JUST THE GOALS AND THE PENALTY KICKS



Team Line-Ups below - 

Eton Manor travel to bottom of the table Haringey and Waltham at the weeekend before another home cup match in the League Cup against Ilford next Wednesday. 

West Essex have a very tough looking home game against in-form FC Romania (they beat Enfield 1893 FC 7-0 last weekend) on Saturday before hosting H&W next Tuesday at Mayesbrook Park where they are currently ground sharing. After promotion from the Middlesex County League at the end of last season they will be reasonably pleased with their debut campaign in the ESL so far - Their form has improved of late winning six of their eight games of 2017 with this game and a narrow defeat to Southend Manor the only defeats.