Larks sing Sweet Caroline after holding nerve to beat Blues in shoot-out

Marlow 2, Larkhall Athletic 2 Larkhall advance 6-5 on penalties Marlow’s management team, players and supporters must be scratching their heads this evening and wondering how they’re not in the hat for the second round of the FA

Trophy.

They lost a game they controlled for the most part 6-5 on penalties, after Larkhall Athletic netted a 90th minute equaliser to take the tie to a sudden-death shoot-out.

Despite their disappointing exit, and the loss of £3,000 from the FA's prize fund, manager Mark Bartley was pleased with his side's performance, and he had good right to be.

At times in the first half, they looked to be on another level to their opponents, despite the fact they both play at step 4, and should really have scored more than the two goals they managed through

Nnamdi Nwachuku.

The hosts began on the front foot and went close on a couple of occasions through a clever header from Khalid Simmo and Nwachuku's curling effort before the visitors grabbed the lead against the run of play in the ninth minute.

Larkhall’s goal came from a setpiece and a slight deflection in the build-up saw the ball fall kindly for Matt Britton on the edge of the area and his curling shot had the power and accuracy to beat Simon Grant.

The Blues weren’t behind for long, however, with Simmo again beating his defender on the right and whipping in a low cross for Nwachuku to hook home at the far post. The striker's instinct to peel off his man and score was impressive to see and the understanding he seems to have already developed with Simmo could prove beneficial for the Blues in the remainder of the season.

They were at it again in the 22nd minute to score an almost carbon copy goal.

Baboucarr Jarra’s brilliant long ball picked out Simmo on the right and again he tormented his marker before sending in a cross which Nwachuku anticipated to sidefoot home.

The second half was more competitive, and the Larks must have been given a rocket from their manager during the interval as they returned to the fray hungrier to fight for possession and play some football. This extra intensity from the visitors riled the Blues but they didn't rise to the robust tackles or lose their discipline.

Their play may have lacked the fluency of the first half, but they still created the game's best chances. Jay Welch headed onto the outside of the post after getting on the end of Nwachuku's deflected cross in the 48th minute and

Nwachuku went close on a couple of occasions after showing great skill to outwit his marker and advance on the penalty area.

The Blues sat back and tried to see the game through, but they couldn't quite manage it with Joe Hilliard firing home through a crowded penalty area in the 90th minute after picking the ball up just inside the area.

Welch, Simmo, Nwachuku, Louis Rogers and Adam Richards all scored for the Blues, but Junaid Bell, Marcus Mealing, Kahlil Francis, Baboucarr Jarra and Isaac Olorunfemi failed to convert. At one stage it felt like neither side wanted to win it as Grant and Semmens pulled off a string of saves but, with the scores tied at 5-5, Josh Jones held his nerve to win it for the visitors, who celebrated with a pile on and fist pumps in front of the young Marlow fans who’d done their best to put them off during the shoot-out. In their exuberant post-match dressing room celebrations – singing along to Sweet Caroline – the Larks also managed to smash one of the dressing room windows.