Daventry Town 4 Kidsgrove Ath 3 - Athletic out of two cups in a week
Kidsgrove exited their second cup competition in a week, falling to a 4-3 defeat at Daventry Town after conceding a last minute winner. This follows on from being knocked out of the Doodson Sport Cup by Witton Albion on Wednesday night.
Injuries and unavailability meant that Peter Ward was forced to shuffle players around again. With Andy Taylor, Craig Dove and Mark Beeston not in the line-up, Jamie Skellern started in defence with Ross Davidson in a deeper midfield role as Dave Walker returned to the side.
Walker had an excellent opportunity after just three minutes as he found himself free through on goal but his powerful shot was beaten away by David Bevan. Daventry should have punished this a minute later after a wind-assisted long ball out of defence dropped perfectly to Howard Forinton but he rolled his shot wide after Hodgson had managed to narrow the angle.
Athletic went ahead after seven minutes. Danny Griggs was fouled 20 yards from goal and Andy KINSEY curled a delightful free-kick around the wall and out of the reach of Bevan's despairing dive. The lead lasted just two minutes however as Stuart HENDRIE picked up possession in the Kidsgrove half and broke forward to take the ball past Hodgson and roll it into the net.
Both sides were generally bypassing their midfield as Callum Burgess shot straight at Hodgson after 12 minutes. Walker then headed on a Kinsey cross to Griggs whose overhead kick went over the bar.
Grove were forced into making a substitution after only a quarter of an hour with Alex Morris replacing Nick Ward. Five minutes later, a speculative effort from Lee Hendrie sailed high and wide without troubling Hodgson. For Athletic, Kinsey produced a well-weighted pass to Ashley Carter but his shot on the slide went wide.
Daventry took the lead on 25 minutes after a penalty was harshly awarded against Skellern for a handball in the area. FORINTON gave Hodgson no chance from the spot, blasting the ball straight down the middle.
By this point, Kidsgrove were struggling to find any sort of rhythm. Just after the half hour, Alex Morris lost possession to Stuart Hendrie, but Danny Smith managed to block the shot out for a corner. From this the ball eventually dropped to Lee Hendrie who hit a powerful strike from the edge of the area that cannoned down off the underside of the bar and away to safety.
A rare attack from the visitors was ended when Walker was hauled down just outside the penalty area and from Griggs' free kick, Kinsey headed the ball over.
The second half started badly for Athletic as Daventry extended their lead further within four minutes of the restart. Claudio Hoban delivered a cross from the left and FORINTON directed a low header into the corner of the net.
As Kidsgrove sought a way back into the game, two substitutions were made with Karl Charlton and Steve Brannan replacing Skellern and Griggs. The game appeared to petering out though until a dramatic last 12 minutes.
With 78 minutes played, Carter produced a cross which Brannan did well to head goalwards. Bevan managed to palm this out but only to Kinsey. His shot was again saved, but this time the ball fell to BRANNAN who made no mistake to hand Kidsgrove a lifeline.
Just two minutes after this, Athletic were back on level terms. A corner from the right fell to KINSEY whose shot on the turn evaded a host of bodies in the six yard box and ended up in the back of the net.
Clearly, neither side was happy with the draw, as both pressed forward in search of a winner. With three minutes remaining, Stuart Cross fired wide for the hosts and a minute later Mark Bellingham hit the outside of Hodgson's post when well placed to score. For Kidsgrove, Wayne Johnson rose highest from a corner only to see his header saved.
In the last minute of added time and with Kidsgrove committing players forward, they were undone by a quick break as a clearance found its way to Luke Edwards off the head of Sam Hall. He ran clear of the Athletic defence and rolled the ball into the path of BELLINGHAM who this time made no mistake to send Daventry into the next round.
Team: Hodgson, D Smith, Skellern (Charlton 51), Ward (Morris 15), Johnson, Davidson, Carter, Hall, Walker, Kinsey, Griggs (Brannan 58). Unused subs: Basford, Twigg.
Share Last updated: 25th October 2011, 17:18