Thursdays' victory was Radstock fourth in the competition and they came up against stiff opposition in the form of a Woking side that had won all six of their matches this season, including a five two win over local rivals Camberley in the previous round of this competition.
Radstock’s young side were well supported on their trip to Surrey by a vocal Miners contingent, yet their pre-match optimism turned to trepidation within seconds of the kick-off when a high ball over the top of the Radstock defence left goalkeeper Jack Scrivens in no man's land, gifting Josh Greenleaf the opening goal. Matters went from bad to worse when Woking scored their second only two minutes later, Greenleaf cutting in from the left wing and beating Scrivens with a shot from the edge of the area.
It looked like the Miners were in awe of both their hosts and their surroundings, the Laithwaite Community Stadium every bit the stage for a National League football club. Yet Radstock showed a resilience that belied their years, Morgan Skipp conjuring a thunderbolt from 30 yards that the Woking keeper, Sam Mason, could only pick out of the back of his net. With less than five minutes on the clock the game had already produced three goals and the fireworks decorating the nights sky behind the Chris Lane Terrace, were being more than rivalled by the action on the pitch.
The hosts reacted well to Radstock’s goal, reasserting their dominance through their accomplished spine of Josh Mambo, providing a rock at the heart of defence, Billy Montague running the centre of midfield, whilst Declan Appau and Josh Greenleaf caused the visitors plenty of problems up front.
Disaster struck again for the Miners on 22 minutes when Radstock Captain Tyler Bryant brought down Greenleaf for a penalty, which he duly converted for his hat-trick. Greenleaf could have had a fourth on the half hour, only to be denied by the linesman’s flag.
Yet Radstock weathered the storm and on 35 minutes snatched a goal back through the excellent work of Olav Haugerud on the left wing, conjuring up a defence splitting pass that found a smart finish from Rico Sobers. Woking were visibly rattled by Radstock’s unlikely fight back and failed to deal with an excellent move between Skipp and Sobers that saw the latter net his second goal of the game on the stroke of half time.
The second half may have started without the fireworks of the first, but the game was still end to end, with Morgan Skipp’s long range effort only narrowly missing the target after two minutes and the impressive Delan Appau going close for Woking, four mutes later.
Radstock took the lead for the first time in the game on the hour mark, when another long range effort from Skipp managed to sneak into the bottom left hand corner. Woking were looking increasing troubled at the back, with a series on lengthy cramp related stoppages involving centre half, Charlie Hester-Cook, finally leading to his substitution after 65 minutes. Two minutes later Radstock had their fifth goal, when Sobers turned provider with a wicked cross from the left, that was smartly put into the net by Lewis Blannin.
With only five minutes to go, Woking’s frustrations finally boiled over and an ill-tempered exchange between both sets of players resulted in both sides being reduced to ten men. As the seconds ticked by Radstock manager, Ian Lanning, emptied his substitutes bench, packing the defence to hold out until full time. Woking threw everything they had at the Miners, but could only find a consolation goal with the last kick of the game, Radstock securing a famous victory by five goals to four.
Radstock's first round tie against Exeter City will be played at Southfields Recreation Ground on Thursday, November 1st at 7:45pm. The young Miners should have nothing to fear as they progress into uncharted territory in this competition, their togetherness and desire every bit as evident as their undoubted ability. The quality of their performances has brought great credit on themselves, their Club and the standard on age grade football across the Somer Valley.
The hosts reacted well to Radstock’s goal, reasserting their dominance through their accomplished spine of Josh Mambo, providing a rock at the heart of defence, Billy Montague running the centre of midfield, whilst Declan Appau and Josh Greenleaf caused the visitors plenty of problems up front.
Disaster struck again for the Miners on 22 minutes when Radstock Captain Tyler Bryant brought down Greenleaf for a penalty, which he duly converted for his hat-trick. Greenleaf could have had a fourth on the half hour, only to be denied by the linesman’s flag.
Yet Radstock weathered the storm and on 35 minutes snatched a goal back through the excellent work of Olav Haugerud on the left wing, conjuring up a defence splitting pass that found a smart finish from Rico Sobers. Woking were visibly rattled by Radstock’s unlikely fight back and failed to deal with an excellent move between Skipp and Sobers that saw the latter net his second goal of the game on the stroke of half time.
The second half may have started without the fireworks of the first, but the game was still end to end, with Morgan Skipp’s long range effort only narrowly missing the target after two minutes and the impressive Delan Appau going close for Woking, four mutes later.
Radstock took the lead for the first time in the game on the hour mark, when another long range effort from Skipp managed to sneak into the bottom left hand corner. Woking were looking increasing troubled at the back, with a series on lengthy cramp related stoppages involving centre half, Charlie Hester-Cook, finally leading to his substitution after 65 minutes. Two minutes later Radstock had their fifth goal, when Sobers turned provider with a wicked cross from the left, that was smartly put into the net by Lewis Blannin.
With only five minutes to go, Woking’s frustrations finally boiled over and an ill-tempered exchange between both sets of players resulted in both sides being reduced to ten men. As the seconds ticked by Radstock manager, Ian Lanning, emptied his substitutes bench, packing the defence to hold out until full time. Woking threw everything they had at the Miners, but could only find a consolation goal with the last kick of the game, Radstock securing a famous victory by five goals to four.
Radstock's first round tie against Exeter City will be played at Southfields Recreation Ground on Thursday, November 1st at 7:45pm. The young Miners should have nothing to fear as they progress into uncharted territory in this competition, their togetherness and desire every bit as evident as their undoubted ability. The quality of their performances has brought great credit on themselves, their Club and the standard on age grade football across the Somer Valley.
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