Marston reserves beat Division 1 Broughton 2 – 1 after extra time at Boults Lane to progress into the second round. After a fairly even first 30 minutes  with neither team dominating Broughton took the lead, a free kick was not cleared by Marston, the ball was crossed into the middle and Jon Hopcraft headed into an empty net.

 

Marston then equalised before half time Hugo Scott turning well in the Broughton box and then thumping the shot into the net, this was after Marstons best attacking move of the first half. (HT 1-1)

 

There were no more goals in the second half with both teams cancelling one another out on the pitch. Broughton did have a shot which hit the top of Marston’s crossbar whilst up the other end Marston had a few sites on goal but could not beat the Broughton keeper. Both teams were restricted to long range efforts with both defences on top. (FT 1 – 1)

 

The first half of extra time was pretty much like the second half, quite an even contest on the pitch and no real clear cut chances for both teams. The game got strectched in the second half of Extra time and both teams created more chances. With penalties looming on the horizon Marston scored the winner, a shot from the edge of the box was only half saved by the Broughton keeping and Tom Holmes was the quickest onto the rebound to smash the ball in the empty net.

 

After the goal, Broughton kept pushing forward but could not find an equaliser and this almost allowed Marston to score a third when an open goal was missed from 2 yards!