Wilbraham 1 Great Chishill 1 (Chishill won 4-3 on penalties) CHISHILL had to endure another 120 minutes of football, this time going through on penalties in the Lower Junior Cup. The home side, with the wind behind them, put Chishill under pressure thro

Wilbraham 1 Great Chishill 1

(Chishill won 4-3 on penalties)

CHISHILL had to endure another 120 minutes of football, this time going through on penalties in the Lower Junior Cup.

The home side, with the wind behind them, put Chishill under pressure throughout the first half, but some solid defending kept them at bay.

It was the visitors who came closest to scoring, with Steve McGee's effort beating the keeper, but lacking pace, it was cleared off the line.

Chishill were much the better team in the second half, despite seeing their captain, Gareth Edey limp off after a late tackle.

Despite all their good play, the away side were rarely able to test the keeper, as most of their efforts were not finding the target.

Their breakthrough did come with 25 minutes remaining. From Luke Tyler's free-kick, Jonathan Drury had time to bring the ball down at the far post and smash the ball home.

That looked like it would be the winner, but when Drury missed an excellent chance to seal the win with five minutes left, Wilbraham went up the other end and capitalised on a defensive slip to take the game into extra time.

Again, it was Chishill who looked the better side, but for all their graft, could not find the winner they deserved.

It had to be decided on penalties, and despite Tyler seeing his first kick saved, Elliot Drury, Gibson, Burrows and Manning all converted, while Gallagher saved twice to put Chishill through.

Buntingford Town Youth 1 Hornchurch 0

TOWN'S youth team pulled off an excellent victory at The Bury on Sunday with a closely fought victory, in their first game for nearly a month.

The hosts started well, and although the pitch made passing football difficult to produce the home side were particularly threatening from set plays in the first half.

A number of good early long throws and corners caused erratic defending with Jamie Morriss having one effort saved and one cleared off the line.

The continued early pressure paid dividends in the 10th minute when a Lewis Endacott clearance eluded the visiting defence and Morriss raced clear to lob the keeper.

Minutes later Luke Robins was unlucky to see his inswinging corner come back into play off the post.

Hornchurch looked a very capable outfit with plenty of ability and spirit but this was probably one of Town's better defensive displays and the whole team really worked hard to thwart and swift advances with some fine shut down play and determined tackling.

The work-rate was rewarded with no clear chances being created by the visiting side before the interval.

The visiting side were even more determined in the second period and began passing the ball very well.

Town's work rate was similar to the first but they struggled to keep decent possession and therefore were up against it for periods of the second half.

The continued defensive solidness continued though and only a couple of goalmouth scrambles caused the home side some scary moments.

Keeper Robbie Cooke was well protected and as the half wore on Town began to counter attack pretty well.

Jamie Morriss and Luke Robins were both close to doubling the advantage and Will Turl had a couple of decent penalty shouts ignored from corners.

The fact that Town had had no football in a month showed late on from a fitness point of view with some mistakes through tiredness but when the home defence was finally breached Cooke made three sublime diving blocks to earn deserved plaudits in the final moments with the team deserving their clean sheet.

Baldock Town 4 Berkhamsted Sports 1 (AET)

THE Reds booked a Herts Junior Cup quarter-final place for the first time in their short history after a memorable extra-time victory over a well-drilled Berko' side.

The visitors to "The Slope" were in top form prior to this cup tie, winning their last six matches and scoring 40 goals in the process. The Reds on the other hand had won nine of their last 10, so this was always going to be an exciting encounter.

No-one could have predicted what was to come in the opening minute as the Reds were awarded a penalty by referee Geoff Livingstone inside 40 seconds after Mark Nunn was brought down when one-on-one.

Young midfield starlet Cameron Brawley stepped up and confidently sent the keeper the wrong way to give Baldock a dream start.

The visitors were shell-shocked by the quick tempo the Reds started with and it took them 15 minutes to find their feet.

The visitors began to control the game as the half wore on, with keeper McEwan called into action to stop a deflected free-kick.

Youngster Harry Holland was denied on 29 minutes when he went clear of the defence only to see his shot parried by the keeper straight to Nunn, whose effort was somehow cleared off the line after a despairing lunge by a Berko defender.

Berkhamsted began the second period as they finished the first as they began to look dangerous, but the Reds defence was again holding firm.

After chances came and went at either end it was the visitors who grabbed an equaliser with 23 minutes remaining. A mistake in the Reds defence enabled the visitors to drive home from close range leaving McEwan with no chance.

The last 20 minutes would be a test of the Baldock character after leading for 67 minutes. Adam Shelley went through with sixteen minutes remaining after good work by Holland, but the ball got stuck under his feet and the keeper saved.

Both sides had given it everything when the final whistle went signalling a nail-biting extra-time.

The Reds had "The Slope" and the wind in their favour for the first period and wasted no time in making the advantage count.

A scramble from a Smith free-kick saw the ball break for centre-back Lee Buck who lashed the ball into the back of the net to give Baldock a priceless advantage.

It got better for Baldock three minutes later when a corner was not cleared and Mark Nunn finished from close range to put the Reds very much in the ascendancy.

Just when Baldock thought about playing out the match, there was another twist as Buck gave away a penalty at the other end after a clumsy challenge. McEwan guessed right and kept the score at 3-1.

In the second period the visitors were playing five or six up front to try and force penalties, but Nick Blenkin broke away on the halfway line on 115 minutes.

With one defender to beat, he twisted and turned leaving the defender in his wake and calmly netted to seal a memorable victory, and score his 16th of the season.