Majestic Mills wins cup tie with late strike
A DRAMATIC last gasp winner edged Studley through to the next round of the FA Cup on Friday night and boss Mike Fowler is hoping for a repeat performance when they take on higher-ranked Coleshill Town under Studley’s lights.
The Bees manager said: “It was a really pleasing result and it’s always better to win it in the way we did – scoring the winner in the 97th minute.
“I know there has been a lot said about this new FA directive about adding time on at the end of games but while a lot of happy aren’t happy, I was delighted!
“We conceded a penalty in the 91st minute and then went and got the winner in the 97th. It was a typical FA Cup tie. We did well in the first half when we were quite dominant with their goal coming from a mistake by us. Apart from that they didn’t trouble us. We deserved to be leading at half-time but you have to put your chances away.
“They started the better in the second half but we’ve then missed an open goal and their keeper has made some good saves. They’ve had chances as well – it was going end-to-end, a bit like a basketball game.
“We’ve brought on our new striker Zac Guinan and with his first involvement in the game he’s scored. We have then given away a soft penalty for them to equalise and we’ve thought we were going to have to do it all over again on Monday but it was all us after that and John Mills has hit the winner in the 97th minute. He’s gambled off the throw-in and he is probably the only player who could have scored it – left-footed, running away from goal. He has great technique.”
The Bees have two Midland Football league Premier matches before the next round – at Northwich Victoria on Saturday and at home to Stourport Swifts on Monday.
Fowler added: "The message to the players is that if the performance levels aren’t where they need to be then they won’t be involved in the cup game on Friday (18th August).
“Anything can happen in the FA Cup. We have quality throughout the team and it will be another special night under lights at Studley. We said it was all about creating memories and experiences and even though they are from the league above, we won’t be far away. We have already acquitted ourselves against Redditch, Walsall Wood and Stratford in pre-season.”
