Blues go through in seven-goal Hampshire Cup thriller
Fleet Town 4 – 3 Tadley Calleva. Fleet Town booked their place in the next round of the Servio Hampshire Senior Cup after overcoming Tadley Calleva 4–3 in a hugely entertaining encounter at Calthorpe Park on Tuesday night.
The seven-goal thriller had a little bit of everything — some excellent football, brilliant goals, a floodlight failure and even a 90th-minute red card — as the Blues eventually came out on top.
Fleet made the perfect start and took the lead after 13 minutes. Debutant Ewan Lynch did well to square the ball back into the path of Shaq Johnson, who finished comfortably to give the Blues an early advantage.
Both sides had opportunities as the half progressed, but Johnson’s goal remained the difference at the interval, with Fleet heading into the break 1–0 ahead.
There was an unusual delay to the start of the second half when a floodlight failure briefly held up proceedings, but once play resumed the action quickly came to life.
On 49 minutes, Tadley drew level through Lors Nicholas, but Fleet responded well and restored their advantage on the hour mark. Johnson was again the man on target, this time producing a superb header to claim his second of the evening and make it 2–1.
The lead lasted just two minutes, however, as Alfie Burton struck for Tadley to level the scores once again.
The goals kept coming and, just three minutes later, Fleet were back in front. Lynch, already with an assist on his debut, finished off an excellent team move to score his first goal for the Blues and make it 3–2.
That slender advantage remained intact as the game entered its closing stages, with Tadley pushing for another equaliser and Fleet looking for the goal that would finally put the tie to bed.
It eventually arrived deep into injury time. George Wallace delivered a fine corner into the area and Alex MacAllister met it with a brilliant header to seemingly settle the contest at 4–2.
But there was still time for even more drama. Tadley grabbed a third moments later to make it 4–3 before James Beauchamp was shown a second yellow card and dismissed in the final moments of an extraordinary evening.
The final whistle eventually brought an end to a breathless cup tie and confirmed Fleet’s place in the next round of the Servio Hampshire Senior Cup.
Seven goals, a floodlight failure, a red card and plenty of drama — but most importantly, the Blues are through!
