Bilborough Town 2 - 1 Keyworth United
Bilborough Town 2 - 1 Keyworth United Cross (33) Price (64)
J Kane (41)
Town progressed to the 2nd round of the Nottinghamshire FA County Cup on Saturday, as they fought out a 2-1 victory over Central Midlands League outfit, Keyworth United. With a number of key players still missing, Town welcomed Street, who partnered Hayes at the centre of defence, back to the starting line-up. Bilborough almost took the lead within the first minute when the impressive, 17-year-old Williamson dragged his shot from the edge of the box just wide of the post. Keyworth began to find their feet and had a good chance of their own ten minutes later when a ball was whipped into the box, but Gill could only see his effort blaze over the bar. Clements and Stewart were having varying amounts of success down the left flank and Town twice had efforts blocked from balls put into the box by the two. Keyworth were the subject of their own downfall midway through the half when a mix-up in defence resulted in the ‘keeper colliding with the centre half. Cross was quick to pounce and gathered the ball on the touchline, near the corner flag and proceeded to slot it home from an impossible angle and break the deadlock. Town were beginning to up the tempo, with Williamson and Croft linking up well at the top. Five minutes later, Williamson came close again when he beat two players and struck a shot from 25 yards that was well saved by the Keyworth ‘keeper. Unfortunately for Keyworth, the parried shot fell into the path of Croft who smashed the ball against the post. Luck was on Town’s side, though, when that rebound fell to the feet of J Kane, who slotted it home from short range. HT 2-0 As expected in a cup tie, the cliched ‘game of two halves’ was relevant, as Keyworth came out of the blocks quickly. After soaking up the pressure well and no real chances for either team, Keyworth’s best opportunity came when another ball whipped into the box was met by the foot of Gill. But Ivanov was on-hand to put in a great block to keep the score at 2-0. Town could have put the game to bed and made it 3-0 when Croft was fed through by Clements but Croft could only see his close-range shot squirmed away by the ‘keeper, in the now torrential conditions. Keyworth pulled on back just after the hour mark when a cross from Price beat everyone, including Ivanov and everything was set-up for a real cup-tie ending. Town almost replied straight away when Alex Lee found himself unmarked at the front post from a corner, but he could glance his head over the bar.
Manager, Steve Lee, introduced Palmer into the middle to solidify things, pushing Street up alongside him and brought D Kane on to join Hayes at the back shortly after. This allowed Town to withstand the pressure from Keyworth as they failed to find a way through and a game of few chances petered out to put Town through in their first ever FA County Cup appearance. FT 2-1
