Team: Lovett, Jones, Woods, Grundy, Kingston, San Emeterio, Cousins, Shipman, De Baros, Fisher, Lucking

Subs: Stapleton (Lucking - 65), Guirerro (Jones - 70)

Goal Scorers: Cousins, Fisher (Pen), Shipman

Penalties: Fisher, Stapleton, De Baros, San Emeterio

We were missing James Reeves, Aaron Jessavala, Luke Fewtrell & Dave Richards from last weeks starting line up against Hampton & Richmond, but having an ever changing line up is part & parcel of reserve team football & gave Lloyd Jones & Tom Stapleton from the youth team & Jason Kingston a chance to get some game time under their belts & the opportunity to show us what they can do.

We got off to a great start by passing the ball with composure & took the lead within the first 5 minutes, following a through ball from Pedro de Baros from deep inside our own half, Phillip Fisher ran onto the perfectly weighted pass, outpaced the Leverstock defence & crossed from the left, Luke Cousins broke into the box from midfield & side footed home from 10 yards.

The positive start & excellent posession of the ball dissapeared as quickly as we scored our 1st goal. A matter of minutes after taking the lead a long punt upfield was mis-judged by our centre half pairing & the lively Leverstock striker took advantage by running onto the ball & slotting home into the far corner of the goal from the right hand side of penalty box.

Things continued to go down hill, as the neat passing & competitive edge we pride ourselves on almost instantly vanished, with Leverstock taking full control of the game & looking dangerous with every attack. After half an hour the home side were awarded a penalty as Tom Lovett was harshly penalised for bringing the striker down as he ran in on goal. The spot kick was saved, only for Leverstock to react quicker & smash the rebound home to make it 2-1. Things went from bad to worse approaching half time as the lead was extended to make it 3-1.

A few constructive words were spoken at half time, with the team also being reminded what is expected of them & the way they are expected to play.

Although the quality was lacking in the 2nd half, possibly with the conditions playing a part in this, the commitment was back to the level we have shown over the past few games & attacking down the slope we looked dangerous,  putting ourselves firmly back in the game when Pedro de Baros was brought down in the penalty area. Phillip Fisher stepped up & tucked the penalty away to make it 3-2. Although we began to start taking control, Leverstock did look dangerous, with Chris Wood in particular keeping the lively strikeforce at bay.

With 5 minutes to go we got the equaliser that we deserved when Tom Shipman bundled home at the 2nd attempt inside the 6 yard box following a corner from the left.

A non-eventful extra time was followed by a penalty shoot out. Each of the Hartley penalties were dispatched with confidence, with Leverstock putting two penalties over the bar. We were left to celebrate progressing to the next round of the cup.

The 2nd half comeback was extremely pleasing. The overall performance highlighted that if you don't compete & win your personal battles you will struggle, thus being 3-1 down at half time. But, when we compete, work as a team, get the ball down & keep posession then we are capable of giving any team in the Suburban League a tough afternoon.

It's another long trip next Saturday, Newport Pagnell away. We will go all out to get 3 points to kick start our league campaign & begin our rise up the table.