Fairford have that little extra as two cup competitions go into extra time (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Fairford have that little extra as two cup competitions go into extra time

WITH nine goals, three dismissals and a broken nose, this Norman Matthews Floodlit Cup first-round tie proved more than a little entertaining.

Fairford eventually secured a path into the second round, thanks to a late flurry of goals, but not without a scare.

In the tie, played at Cinder Lane on Wednesday evening of last week, the visitors opened the scoring on 14 minutes when a corner from Kevin Slack was turned in by an on-rushing Jim Smith.

But Fairford, not to be outdone, were helped when Cleeve keeper John Skeen saw red after two successive yellow cards.

The former Cheltenham Town keeper had initially been booked minutes before the interval before kicking the ball away in anger for his second yellow card within a minute.

From the resulting corner, Fairford got their equaliser which came from striker Kevin Coles. After the break, the visitors came out fighting and were soon back in the ascendancy.

On 48 minutes, Kevin Slack drove in a low free kick from 25 yards which despite a deflection, found its way past Price into the bottom corner to make it 2-1.

Slack was on hand five minutes later as he turned in a cross-field ball from John Hills to make it 3-1.

Despite a two-goal deficit, Fairford countered and Ryan Lovegrove pegged a goal back with a low shot on 55 minutes before Phil Corcoran drew evel on 56 minutes with another driven effort to leave the visitors stunned.

Assistant manager Kevin Maloney, in sole charge in the absence of supremo Mark Webb, made the first substitution of the evening when introducing Lee Clark for Micky Solan on the hour.

Five minutes later, Lee Hartshorn was forced to leave the field with a broken nose to be replaced by Dave Morse.

Home keeper James Price was at his best with 15 minutes to go as he saved well from Kevin Slack before striker Sam Reason was introduced in place of Ryan Lovegrove.

With the final score 3-3 after 90 minutes, it was a case of extra-time. Cleeve regained the lead on 93 minutes, only to see the strike ruled out by an offside flag.

From that moment on, Town never looked back and went ahead for the first time. A move involving John Devoille and Sam Reason saw Lee Clark arrive at the back post to drive home a low cross from Devoille.

Just four minutes later, the ball was in the back of the net once again with Reason unleashing an unstoppable shot past acting keeper Joe Tustain.

There was then a double sending off 20 minutes into extra-time as Bishop's Cleeve skipper, former Port Vale and Cheltenham Town defender Richard Clark, saw red for a foul.

Cleeve manager Paul Collicutt was also sent from the dugout by referee S Maynard for over excessive demonstrations.

However, Fairford had eyes only for the second round of the Floodlit Cup and they secured a 6-3 win through Kevin Coles with a goal seven minutes from time.

Fairford Town: James Price, Gareth Davies, John Joyce, Lee Hartshorn, Phil Ward, John Devoille, Mick Solan, Ryan Lovegrove, Phil Corcoran, Kevin Coles, Courtney Chessell (c). Subs: Dave Morse (Hartshorn), Sammy Reason (Lovegrove), Lee Clark (Solan). Attend: 46.

Fairford recorded a 5-1 win in the first round of the Gloucestershire Senior Trophy against Patchway on Saturday after successfully navigating extra-time for the second time inside four days.

Manager Mark Webb, back on the bench after missing Wednesday's win through work commitments, witnessed a game played on a surprisingly good surface despite the bout of heavy rain.

The visitors went 1-0 down when Robert Pope ghosted through the Town back line to give Patchway an early lead on the half-hour.

In reply, the visitors came close on 40 minutes when a stinging shot from Courtney Chessell was excellently saved.

Going in one down at the interval, Fairford opened the second half with renewed vigour.

Their 16-year old substitute, Adam Snook, replaced Micky Solan on 55 minutes as Fairford looked to get back into contention.

Ten minutes later, Adam Snook was joined by 18-year-old brother Ben as he replaced Dave Morse.

It was to be the first time that two brothers had played in the same Fairford side since the days of Kevin and Barry Pocock.

Switching to 3-5-2 after the changes, Town should have equalised soon after when Ben Snook got clean through but scooped his shot over the bar.

On 85 minutes, the leveller arrived via Sammy Reason from a good ball into the box from Coles. With the score finishing 1-1 after 90 minutes, the tie progressed into extra-time.

After four minutes, a fine ball from Clarke found Corcoran who gave Town the lead for the first time in the game.

On 100 minutes, a mistake in the home defence let in Corcoran once again who found the back of the net with a low shot to make it 3-1.

Perseverance from Corcoran saw him complete his hat-trick with a superb strike from the edge of the box after 125 minutes.

The scoring was completed as they made it 5-1 when a superb ball from Ben Snook.

When Phil Corcoran laid the ball off to Reason, he struck his second of the game to secure a safe path into round two for Fairford.

Fairford Town: Price, Joyce, Davies, Ward, Morse, Solan, Clarke, Chessell, Corcoran, Reason, Coles. Subs: Slattery J, Snook A, Snook B.