The Dragons out of the Cup

TD Shipley 0-3 Punnetts Town FC

The Dragons lose out in the Quarter Final Round of the Sussex Intermediate Challenge Cup, reports Kevin Gargini.

The match was played on a frosty afternoon on the excellent 3G pitch at Oriel High School in Crawley. The Dragons were looking forward to seeing off their East Sussex opponents from a step lower in the pyramid, however Town were having none of it. The underdogs came out snarling from the start.

After just ten minutes the visitors took the lead when they broke forward and the skilful Alex Burton put the ball past Rob Woodward in goal. TD did look for an equaliser with Adam Campbell-Stone coming close but it was the energetic Punnetts Town who doubled their lead.

This time it was Macaulay Gray who took advantage after a poor clearance and drove forward from midfield to score after twenty minutes. Gray was the engine in the middle of the park for Town.

Virani and Smith were having a difficult time at the back dealing with the lively strike force from East Sussex. On forty minutes Town got their third of the game and put the contest out of touch for the Dragons. The excellent Alex Burton got his second goal of the game making it 3-0.

TD Shipley came out in the second half rejuvenated and knew that an early goal would put them in a decent position for a comeback. They tried to work it down the wings using their speed but the final ball wasn’t accurate enough. Unfortunately, try all they could it was a frustrating afternoon for the Dragons which saw Campbell-Stone pick up a yellow card.

Punnetts Town went through to the semifinals with a deserved victory, their next game is against Sidley United in the league. TD Shipley face a tough away match against second place Jarvis Brook on the 18th January. A top five finish would be impressive for the newly promoted Dragons.