Town come from behind late on to sink Trawler Boys and book cup final spot
FOOTBALL
Evo-Stik CSS League Challenge Cup Stratford Town 3-2 Lowestoft Town
Report by Craig Gibbons
TWO goals in the final five minutes from Wilson Carvalho and Chris Cox helped Stratford Town come from 2-1 down to secure a 3-2 victory over Lowestoft Town, and book their place in the final of the Evo-Stik CSS League Challenge Cup.
A 37th-minute header from Lowestoft's Dylan Williams opened the scoring and it should have been 2-0 to the visitors just a few minutes into the second half, but Jake Reed missed from the penalty spot.
That miss proved crucial as Mike Taylor restored parity just past the hour mark.
However, the scores were level for just four minutes when Connor Deeks smashed home Lowestoft's second penalty of the night after Ross Etheridge flattened Armani Schaar following some miscommunication with Tom Fishwick.
Just as it looked as though Town were bowing out of the cup, up stepped Carvalho to smash home the equaliser with four minutes of normal time remaining.
The drama was far from over, though, as Chris Cox nabbed the winner in the 89th minute when he headed in at the far post from Grocott's chipped cross.
Town will meet Cinderford Town in the final, at a date and venue yet to be confirmed, after they beat Blackfield & Langley 3-2
Thomas Baillie made two changes to the team which suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat to Rushall Olympic in the league on Saturday, with Fishwick and Grocott coming in for Lewis Wilson and Nabil Shariff respectively.
A fast and furious start saw chances for both sides, with the hosts creating the first key opportunity as Reed's dangerous low cross just evaded striker partner Jacek Zicloka at the far post in the fourth minute.
Two minutes later Grocott forced a smart save out of Lowestoft keeper Elvijs Putnins with a volley from inside the area before Dan Creaney fired a volley over a third of the way through the half.
As the game approached its midway point, proceedings started to settle and Town should have been ahead in the 26th minute when Creaney found himself in acres of space from Cox's cross, but he could only header over.
The chances continued to come and go for Town and ultimately their profligacy was punished in the 37th minute when a deep cross was headed home by Williams, with Town keeper Etheridge out in no man's land.
Just before half-time Town had a great chance to get back on level terms when a fast flowing move allowed Grocott to get in behind the defence and deliver a low cross to the penalty spot where Carvalho could only skew his effort horribly over the bar.
Two minutes into the second half Lowestoft had the chance to put the game to bed when they were awarded a penalty after Albi Skendi hauled down Reed, but the club's star striker could not convert from 12 yards as Etheridge made a super stop to his right to keep Town in the game.
And nine minutes later it needed a goal-line clearance from Fishwick to deny Schaar from doubling Lowestoft's lead against a Town side which looked at sixes and sevens.
The arrival of Mike Taylor in place of Creaney brought huge cheers from the Town faithful and there were even bigger cheers when 'The Beast' bagged the equaliser in the 63rd minute Cox's miscued volley bounced off his toes and squirmed through legs of Putnins and into the net.
But four minutes later Lowestoft had their second penalty of the game as some miscommunication between Fishwick and Etheridge led to the latter clattering Schaar in the penalty area.
This time around Deeks took the spot-kick and he duly obliged, sending the ball into the top right-hand corner to give the Trawler Boys a 2-1 lead.
By this point Town became desperate in their attempts to get back on level terms and eventually their pressure told in the 86th minute when Carvalho was on hand to tap home from close range after Grocott's effort cannoned off the post.
With penalties looming, Town made one last charge on the Lowestoft goal and a delightful chipped cross from Grocott found Cox at the back post who had all the time in the world to score the winner from close range and send the home fans into uproar.
TOWN: Ross Etheridge, Chris Cox, Cody Fisher, James Fry, Tom Fishwick (Nabil Shariff 87), Mo Sebbeh-Njie (Lewis Wilson 74), Wilson Carvalho, Albi Skendi, Dan Creaney (Mike Taylor 56), Will Grocott, Kynan Isaac. Subs: Rajan Shergill.
LOWESTOFT: Elvijs Putnins, Joshua Curry, Adam Smith, Kyle Barker, Adam Tann, Travis Cole (Cion Wren 6), Dylan Williams, Connor Deeks, Jake Reed, Armani Schaar, Jacek Zicloka. Subs: Fletcher Hedge, Jamie Godbold, Andrew Reynolds.
