Stalemate brings St Margaretsbury to Leighton

With one change to the starting line-up (Maltay in for an injured Toomey) Leighton were hoping to claim victory that would easily put them through to the next round of the FA Cup, but unfortunately this wasn't the case. St Margaretsbury started the game only to find themselves losing the ball after some good defensive tackling from Maltay and Bishop to win the ball.

The first cross of the game came from McBride in the 6th minute after he managed to slip passed St Margaretsburys' defence, only for the ball to hang in mid-air with no one from Leighton to put the ball in the net. The 7th minute saw the tables change and it was the opposition who had chance to score, when Leigh Rose made a great run down the left hand side to take a shot only for the ball to go wide of the post, with Dodge no where in sight.

The game continued with both teams having a fair share of the ball, making them evenly matched. However neither team were able to make their passes stick with the ball being flung back and forth like a yo-yo creating know obvious chances for a shot on target.

With Maltay back for Leighton after being suspended he showed no signs of having ever been away from the team, with him crossing the ball on regular occasions to try and put Leighton ahead, but with no such luck. In the 34th minute Simpson put one foot in front of the other finding a way through only to be stopped abruptly by the goal keeper.

The second half provided even less entertainment than the first half with neither side showing any significant chances of scoring. The next and only chance in the second half for Leighton to score was when Cunningham received the ball only to head it over the bar in the 53rd minute. The urgency for Leighton to score was ever increasing and could be seen by the sloppy passes, rushed free kicks and silly fouls being given away, all in the effort just to score that winning goal.

The 88th minute saw everyones heart in their mouths when St Margaretsbury were scrambling around in the box to try and find that all important goal, with Leightons' defence doing everything they possible could to stop the opposition from succeeding and thankfully the ball fell for Dodge who held it firmly.

St Margaretsbury put up a good fight especially being in a lower league and with their centre forward being in goal, Leighton really should have taken this opportunity on board to win the match, but unfortunately it wasn't to be.

This goalless draw see Leighton face St Margaretsbury on the night of Tuesday 28th August when the replay will take place at Bell Close with a kick off time of 19:45, if all is square after full time the game will go to extra time and then penalties.

Team- Dodge, Maltay, Bewley, Cunningham, Deaton, Bishop, McBride, Hanley(66 Hassan), Simpson (66 Masari), Silvestri (78 Sam-Heywood), Morgan

Subs- Sam-Heywood, Hassan, Langlais, McNulty, Masari

Attendance- 53

By Hannah Sellman