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Eastbourne United
Matches
Tue 05 Feb 2013
Eastbourne United AFC
Eastbourne United
P Cooper (51')
2
3
Broadbridge Heath
Extra-Time Heartache for United

Extra-Time Heartache for United

Dean Allchin8 Feb 2013 - 22:38

Eastbourne United AFC’s adventure in the RUR Cup has been ended after a 3-2 extra-time defeat to Broadbridge Heath at The Oval.

After a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Mile Oak on Saturday, Paul Daubeney made four changes to the starting XI, with Jack Divall cup-tied and Aaron Filsell, Jamie Bunn and Simon Catt dropping to the bench, in came Grant Harrison, Mark Goodwin, Danny Simmonds and Nick Barden.
Broadbridge Heath came to The Oval looking to avenge a 6-1 defeat only 10 days previously and fielded a side that included five players who missed the previous fixture.

With gale force wind blowing through The Oval, there was no doubt that the fixture would not be a classic, but United tried to use the wind to their advantage with Liam Baitup and Pete Cooper both going close with shots from distance.
Despite United having the lion’s share of possession, it was the visitors who came inches away from opening the scoring after 24 minutes when Jake Holmes hit the post and saw his rebound cleared off the line by Shaun Lee.
Adam Sargent made sure that the teams went in level at half-time when he twice denied the lively Holmes and followed up with a full stretch save to deny Jamal Sultan.

The second half saw Simon Catt brought on to replace Danny Simmonds, but just five minutes into the half United found themselves a goal behind as Sultan broke away on the right wing and his cross found its way to the far post where Tim Martin stooped to head home.
Almost immediately from the restart, the ball fell to Mark Goodwin who produced a meandering run into the penalty area and was unceremoniously fouled by a combination of two visiting defenders to win a penalty.
Up stepped Pete Cooper to send the ‘keeper the wrong way and draw United level.
Neither side were able to fully get a grip on the game following the equaliser but tempers threatened to boil over after a late tackle on Grant Harrison went unpunished by the match referee.
United now began to start getting a hold on the match but were dealt a sucker punch on 72 minutes when a needless foul was conceded on the half-way line that resulted in a free-kick being launched to the far post where Martyn Flack rose highest head back across Sargent and into the net.
Heath’s lead was to last just six minutes as a lofted ball by Catt was headed into his own net by Ross Swaine as United made their pressure pay.
Cooper had a chance to win the tie for United with four minutes remaining, but his effort was well saved at the near post by Fisher as the tie went into extra-time.

Extra-time saw little in terms of attacking invention from either side until the 118th minute when substitute Jamie Liddell broke free on the left wing before crossing to an unmarked another substitute, Gary Pritchard, who slotted home past a helpless Adam Sargent to seal a semi-final tie against Crowborough Athletic as the 2009 RUR Cup Winners were dumped out of the competition.

Match details

Match date

Tue 05 Feb 2013

Kickoff

19:45

Attendance

65
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Club Sponsor - McDonalds
Charity Partner - Ronald McDonald House Brighton
Club & Programme Sponsor - Planahead
Club Sponsor - PyramidTeamwear