Sheffield FC held off a spirited second-half comeback from Ossett Town to book their place in the next round of the FA Youth Cup.
The world’s oldest football club had looked to be cruising through their FA Youth Cup preliminary round tie after cantering to a 3-0 lead at half-time.
Keegan Hepplestone had got the ball rolling as early as the eighth minute before adding his second on 28 minutes shortly after Mason Hutchinson had doubled the hosts lead.
But two goals inside 60 seconds threatened to turn the match on its head as first Connor Collinson’s 56th minute penalty and then Will Pollitt’s effort got the home fans nerves going.
FA Youth Cup round dates
- First Round: 7 November
- Second Round: 21 November
- Third Round: 19 December
- Fourth Round: 16 January
- Fifth Round: 6 February
- Semi Finals (Two legs): 19 March & 9 April
- Finals: TBC
The visitors continued to push for a third but with Ben Beaumont’s shot saved, they were forced to concede defeat.
There was plenty of tension elsewhere too with four ties going to extra time and two of those going the distance with penalties.
Hayes and Yeading United had been minutes away from victory in normal time before Wingate & Finchley levelled on 85 minutes but they held their nerve in the shootout to win 4-2.
While at Waltham Abbey, it was visitors Broxbourne Borough who were celebrating after winning 3-0 on penalties following a 2-2 draw after extra time.
Loxwood were unable to mark their first ever FA Youth Cup match with victory as Worthing scored twice in extra time to secure a 3-1 win while Metropolitan Police FC slotted home three in extra time to bring an end to South Park’s hopes following a 4-1 scoreline.
There were plenty of local derbies in East Anglia too including Joey Allen scoring twice for Norwich United as they beat Great Yarmouth 2-1 at Plantation Park, while Cambridge City beat close rivals Newmarket Town 4-0 at home.
Chelsea lifted the Youth Cup in 2015
The evening was certainly not short on goals either with Havant & Waterlooville almost reaching double figures with a 9-1 win at Gillingham Town while Tilbury beat Halstead Town 8-0, just outdoing Biggleswade Town who sent Corby Town packing with an 8-1 victory.
On Monday night Cheltenham Town had dispatched New College Swindon 6-0, and not to be outdone, nearby rivals Gloucester City duly responded with a 7-0 hammering of Chippenham Town.
The hosts were already 4-0 up at the break before Stan Brown slotted home his second of the night, Tom Deehan added a sixth and then Ollie Barnes picked himself up after being fouled in the box to make it seventh heaven for Gloucester.
While there was an 11-goal thriller at Marine FC as Cheadle Town just held on for a 6-5 win over AFC Liverpool.
The match started at a frantic pace with the visitors twice going ahead inside 16 minutes through Mitchell Caldecott and Charlie Evans before being twice being pegged back.
It was then the turn of Liverpool to take the lead on two separate occasions via Sean Calvert and James Tyrer but Daniel Gorman’s double ensured it would be 4-4.
William Mottershead’s long-range strike and Simon Hunt’s header finally opened up some breathing space for Cheadle but Calvert’s looping shot made for a tense few minutes for the visitors.
Click here to see all the FA Youth Cup results from Thursday.
Click here dowload a PDF of the draw for the FA Youth Cup Second Round Qualifying.
