Mullets lose cup thriller at Crowborough
ARUNDEL Football Club joint manager Simon Butler praised his side’s performance after their John O’Hara Cup exit at Crowborough on Tuesday.
Mullets trailed 3-0 after 33 minutes, before getting the score back to 4-3 with 24 minutes left but, despite creating several chances, they were unable to force an equaliser.
Crows went ahead on nine minutes through a Sam Carrington penalty, after the ball hit Rory Biggs’ hand, and Carrington doubled the lead with another spot-kick on 30 minutes after a Lloyd Walker foul.
Carrington completed his hat-trick three minutes later, before Mullets’ Alex Biggs shot just wide on 37 minutes.
Bradley Lewis’ excellent 25-yard free-kick got a goal back on the stroke of half-time, before Mullets’ Ryan Peake narrowly missed the target from a corner early in the second half.
Hardwell chipped home to make it 3-2 on 60 minutes but Callum Ridley put Crows 4-2 up on 65 minutes. Within a minute, Scott Tipper had made it 4-3 with an excellent individual goal but Mullets were unable to force an equaliser.
Butler said: “It was a very positive performance and we should have won.
“We had chance after chance but things just didn’t go for us.
“It’s disappointing to go out as it was a competition we could have progressed in, with the draw, but it just wasn’t to be.”
ARUNDEL: Neocleous; Da Costa, Peake, Bibb, L.Walker; R.Biggs, Lewis, A.Biggs, Jearum; Tipper, Hardwell. Subs: Hunter (Jearum 85), J.Biggs, Wotherspoon, Hall, Fernandes.