A great game for neutrals but Atletico missed out in this FA Cup replay at Anstey, going out
to a goal 2 minutes from the end of extra time.
A game that was end to end and plenty of action for any neutrals watching, but ultimately
Atletico failed to hold out at the end of both normal time and extra time. It started really
well with AFC taking the lead when Callum Willimont spotted Sam Belcher's run and a low cross
found the midfielder free in the area and Belcher controlled and finished.As Hinckley started
the better Joe Smith was the busier keeper for Anstey as he made good saves from both Kieran
Harrison and Grant Ryan, before Ryan saw an effort rock the base of the post. Approaching half
time Liam Canavan was brought down on the edge of the area and the former Hinckley United player
stepped up to curl the free kick around the wall and past Jacob Wood scoring the equaliser.
It wasn't long after the restart before AFC took the lead again, when Belcher fed Louis Hamilton
on the right of the area and as the AFC winger took the ball forward with most expecting a cross,
he fired towards the near post beating Smith despite a touch to the ball. Anstey threw bodies
foward now looking for a way back into the tie, Wood saving a long range Canavan effort, Harry
Sheffield firing over, and Wood again getting down low to a Cosmos Matwasa shot. With 5 minutes
remaining Nomads got the goal they were after, with Matwasa being allowed too much space on the
edge of the area and shooting across Wood into the bottom corner from 20 yards out, forcing another
30 minutes of play.
Anstey now had momentum and took that into extra time, scoring with their first attack, despite
Wood saving really well at point blank from Ashley Day, the ball fell kindly to Corey Armeni who
blasted in from close range. It was then Nomads turn to drop deep and AFC applied the pressure,
Belcher glanced an effort wide and Ryan saw his shots blocked by Smith twice, before Jason Lee
had a header stopped on the line by the Nomads defence. 10 minutes from time, Ryan set up Hamilton
neatly after taking the ball to the left of the goal area, and Hamilton guided the ball into goal
scoring Hinckley's third. With the tie looking like heading to penalties, Armeni ran at the AFC
defence slipping a ball through the back line for Josh Gough to run on to and fire past Wood
sealing the tie for Anstey.
click here for:
Anstey Nomads details
|