Maidenhead United v Edgware

For the second time this season we beat premiership opposition in a cup.
Edgware are currently 4th in the premier division with a lot of games in hand having lost only two matches all season.
As we also have table top league challenge on Wednesday I took the opportunity to do a bit of squad rotation to give some of the players a rest.
This cup tie was a very close affair which saw two players sent off in extra time. An Edgware player got a straight red for punching our centre forward with Sam Lock also seeing red for a second bookable offence in the same incident.
The game started at a good tempo with early chances going our way. Nathan Lishman opened the scoring in the 15th minute when he turned inside and hit a low drive into the corner of the net.
Sloppy defending allowed Edgware back in it when we failed to plant a tackle on their centre forward who sped past our last defender and slotted past keeper Aaron O'Brien.
George Lock put us back in the lead when he pounced on a keeper mistake in the 28th minute.
Edgware equalised again when they were awarded a dubious penalty in the 40th minute.
At half time I made two changes to keep our legs fresh and brought on Lee Barney up front and Andy Wells in midfield. When you consider I also had Holyport first teamer Steve Deverall on the bench it just shows you the strength of squad we have.
The second half was a scrappy affair with Edgware edging it a little and us hanging on. We worked our way back into the game but it was mostly long ball tactics and not too pretty.
With it all square after ninety minutes we went into extra time. I swapped our centre forwards over and it paid dividends when James Gisbourne scored the winner in the 102 minute when he used his size and power to beat their keeper in a fifty fifty challenge.
Soon after the two players were sent off and we removed forward Nathan Lishman for midfielder Steve Deverall. The fresh legs proved worthy as Steve had a great 20 minutes to hold us together and bring home the win. We had a few last minute jitters but Aaron did well with a couple of saves to keep Edgware at bay.
We are now through to the last eight and should fear no one.
We are away to Henley on Wednesday night in a top of the table game.