Leicester Road ensured their debut season in The Emirates FA Cup was not to come to a premature halt with a convincing extra preliminary round replay victory over Retford United.
Matty Stenson’s hat-trick capped the most famous night in their two-year history, with Tom McGlinchey sealing the 4-2 win to set up a preliminary round tie with Harborough Town – the winner of which will make the first qualifying round for the very first time.
Retford had earlier equalised before netting a late consolation after the two sides had played out a 1-1 draw in their first encounter.
The Emirates FA Cup
Extra Preliminary Round replays
Tuesday 9 August 2016
By Ross Lawson
Elsewhere there were goals galore at Lancing, who were on the wrong end of a seven-goal thriller which saw Beckenham progress.
Lancing had raced into a 3-1 lead despite being down to ten men but the visitors snatched glory with a goalmouth scramble just a minute from the end of normal time.
It was rather more one-sided at Basildon United, as Reece Tranter’s two goals helped the Bees to a 5-0 victory over Whitton United, while Dunston UTS enjoyed a comfortable victory of their own, brushing past Barlick by 4-0 to set up a visit to Penrith in the preliminary round.
Whitchurch United’s Emirates FA Cup campaign is also far from over, although they had to rely on a stunning lob from close to the halfway line by Ryan Lambert, which was the only goal of the game in their tie with Cribb FC.
The night wasn’t as welcoming for Wolverhampton Casuals however, with a goalkeeping error seeing them knocked out as Lichfield City prevailed 1-0.
Halstead FC’s 2-1 win over Newmarket saw them finish the night as one of three Step 6 teams to knock out a Step 5 outfit – joining Leicester Road and Portishead Town, who defeated Wells City.
And not even 210 minutes of football could separate Pickering Town and Ryhope CW, as they finished their replay at 3-3 before the former edged the encounter 3-1 in the penalty shoot-out.
