Cruel game: FA Cup penalty heartache for two Eastbourne teams

The drama and despair of penalty shoot-outs pitched two Eastbourne clubs out of the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday.
Langney in action in the previous round againat Tower Hamlets / Picture: Lydia RedmanLangney in action in the previous round againat Tower Hamlets / Picture: Lydia Redman
Langney in action in the previous round againat Tower Hamlets / Picture: Lydia Redman

Both Eastbourne Town and Langney Wanderers found their Preliminary Round ties locked at 1-1 after 90 minutes – Town away at Faversham and Wanderers at home to Harrow Borough. But in this season’s streamlined competition, the rules dispense with extra time or replays.

Straight to spot-kicks, then, and the test of nerves as much as skill. At Priory Lane, Wanderers and Harrow each saw a couple of early kicks saved, but the West London side squeezed through 3-2. Over in Kent, the tension was more prolonged, with Town finally tipped out by 6-5.

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For Wanderers, it was a tough outcome after a magnificent performance against opponents two steps higher in the pyramid. Harrow Borough had much of the early play, but saw good chances either squandered, or denied by Neill De Lucia.

Wanderers grew into the game, though, and on 18 minutes Harry Ducatel saw his fabulous thirty-yarder bounce off the crossbar, to leave both woodwork and opponents shuddering. And on either side of half-time Langney looked the better side.

Harrow piled on second-half pressure and were rewarded on 69 minutes when full-back George Moore exchanged passes and squeezed a low shot past De Lucia and just inside the right post.

The Wanderers response was remarkable. Instead of crumpling, they hammered away at their Isthmian League opponents, and with just one minute left, Dave Smart equalised with a drilled free-kick after a Harrow handball in the D.

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In the lottery of penalties, only the stretch of a keeper’s fingers, deflecting the crucial spot kick on to a post, denied Wanderers the chance of a famous victory. But Alex Walsh's men had done their club proud.

After their impressive victory at Saltdean in the previous round, Town’s reward was a demanding 56-mile trek to Kent, and Isthmian South-East side Faversham.

Manager John Lambert had a strong-looking side which included Nathan Crabb, freshly returned to the club, on the bench. And Town seized the initiative on 26 minutes with a brilliant volleyed goal from Jack Shonk – only for the home side to equalise through Harry Harding just six minutes later.

Chances came and went, but at full time the teams were still locked at 1-1. With tension rising twelve yards at a time, the spot-kicks reached five apiece, and sudden death - and a diving save by home keeper Luke Watkins sent Faversham through at 6-5.

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