Maidenhead United (2) 3

THE Magpies came through this bruising FA Cup replay encounter on Tuesday with more to spare than the score suggests.
They opened brightly and soon took the lead when a strong run down the right hand side from Dwain Clarke saw the wide man square the ball back to Yashwa Romeo to clip the ball off the post, past the keeper.
The temperature started to rise with Ryan Johnson carried off on 17 minutes after a heavy challenge which earned the offender a yellow card.
The Magpies made it 2-0 after 25 minutes when a Ryan Parsons free kick on the left was headed against the crossbar by O’Connor. After a slight scramble, during which the home custodian complained of being fouled, Dominic Sterling headed in from two yards.
Another late tackle, this time on Abdul Osman, led to a booking and also led to him limping off.
The tackles flew in thick and fast now as the referee struggled to contain matters, and things were not helped by a wild lunge on Ryan Parsons by John Speedman, who was rewarded with a yellow card.
On 42 minutes O’Connor crossed to Haule, whose drive was saved on the line by the keeper Steve Benbow.
There was still time prior to the break for Haule to draw a further save from the keeper and miss a one on one.
By comparison the opening period of the second half seemed tame until the hour mark when Haule had a drive well held by the keeper and O’Connor cut in from the right and shot just over the bar.
Barely a minute after his previous chance O’Connor should have made the game safe when he headed towards goal, only to see Benbow save on the line.
After forcing a succession of corners, Carterton pulled one back on 81 minutes when Steve Avenall glanced a header into the far corner of the net from a corner on the left.
This merely prompted the Magpies to pour forward, keen to restore their two-goal cushion.
This was achieved in the 83rd minute when Romeo bagged his second of the night when he toe-poked home a cross into the six yard box by Clarke.
The chances continued to come thick and fast as Haule again missed a chance to score when he shot wide when well placed.
On 86 minutes, the Magpies’ advantage was halved again as Alex Green pulled a goal back.
This gave Carterton the belief that they could take the tie into extra-time, Richard Witt missing another golden chance to finish them off when he shot wide when through on goal.
The referee added three minutes additional time, during which Carterton gave one last monumental effort, but the Magpies defence held firm.

Carterton Town: Benbow, Smales, Steedman, Butt, Packham, Wood, Joyce (82 Bryant), Threlfall, Avenall (82 Stalker), Green, Lewis. Unused subs: King, Gilkes, Hale.
Maidenhead United: Ramos, Johnson (14 Haule), Parsons, Witt, Sterling, Osman (37, Driver), Hughes, Nisbet, O‚Connor (77 Burnell), Romeo, Clarke. Unused subs: Jackson, Newman.