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Saturday August 15th 2009

Bloaters 1, Raunds 1 

FA Cup, extra preliminary round

Yarmouth manager Paul Tong took a gamble and changed his starting eleven for this match and almost regretted it as the Bloaters left it very late in the game to grab an equaliser after visitors Raunds took a first half lead. 

Yarmouth fell behind after 34 minutes when a Raunds free kick came back off the bar and John Tite headed in but the visitors rued missed chances when Stewart Roach scored from a Sewell cross in the third minute of added time.  

Tong had had a busy couple of days finding yet another goalkeeper as Stephen Lewis was ruled out with injury picked up at Diss. Eventually he was able to sign Aaron Osborne from Cromer Town; Osborne played 14 games in season 2003-04 in Tong’s previous spell at Yarmouth. Osborne became the fifth goalkeeper  needed in the pre-season and early season matches. 

Chances were few in the opening stages but Yarmouth went close after 14 minutes when from a Woodcock centre, a Reed shot rebounded off ‘keeper Talbot but offside brought the move to an end. Raunds next threatened through Long but as the stiff breeze created problems for Osborne, Long created his own with a foul.  

A Magee free kick found the head of Roach but he found no power to trouble Talbot. An Osborne kick aided by the wind found Reed jumping with Talbot, the ‘keeper winning out before the first corner of the game went to Raunds in the 21^st minute; taken by Tite, the ball came back to him and his second cross was hastily cleared for a throw. A spell of Yarmouth pressure ended with Reed hitting the bar and Roach scuffing his shot from a great Reed pass. 

The half-hour mark saw a miracle save by Osborne who, while grounded, appeared to hook the ball away with his hand as a Raunds forward shaped to break the net with a close-range shot. Two minutes later Yarmouth felt aggrieved that a throw-in was not awarded and Roberts, on his competitive debut, was booked for persistent arguing. In a further two minutes, with Yarmouth still unsettled by the booking incident, Raunds took the lead. Mann took a free kick which came back off the face of the bar to Tite lurking on the edge of the area and his header beat Sewell by the left hand post with Osborne stranded on the other side of goal. 

On 36 minutes, another free kick saw Osborne produce a great save to divert the ball behind for a Raunds corner. A corner for the home side then saw Roberts take up a good position but he got under the ball which ballooned over the visitors’ bar from his header. Then a Yarmouth free kick saw Roberts get up again and this time the ball was kicked off his line by a Raunds defender from a Roach effort. Just before the break, Fitzgerald was booked for a foul on Reed. 

HT 0-1 

In what was becoming an undistinguished performance by Yarmouth in their first home appearance of the season, Magee saw his free kick collected by Talbot before a good pass by Woodcock found Sewell who in turn found Reed whose pass intended for Roach’s run was intercepted by Talbot. The Bloaters were badly in need of some inspiration as another Sewell cross only found the hands of the ‘keeper. 

On the hour Roberts had another towering header, this time from a Smith cross, go over the bar. As Raunds then broke, Sewell did well to get a toe in as two visiting players though looking offside threatened. Yarmouth made the first changes, bringing on Bartley for Woodcock and V Formoso for Smith. 

Ager was booked for a foul in the 72^nd minute and Chambers’ free kick went well over Osborne’s goal. 

Thompson then replaced Reed and featured in a good move down the left which was halted by a foul by Magee which saw the number eight booked. Everyone, including the PA, thought Roach had scored in the 76^th minute but a free kick was awarded Raunds instead and the celebratory music had to be quickly silenced! 

Saunders took a long range shot after a corner but it was well over, and Bartley took a shot but straight at Talbot. Chambers then became Raunds’ second booking and the fifth of the match which had not been at all bad-tempered apart from the Yarmouth disagreement with the referee in the first half. 

With the game entering added time one or two started to drift away as the game looked to be drifting away from Yarmouth but there was a twist in its tail. Sewell pumped one more high cross into the Raunds box and with Bartley and Roach in the mix it was the latter who bundled the ball over the line for a last-gasp equaliser. 

“We got out of jail really,” said Paul Tong afterwards. “It was not a classic, but there you are, it’s cup football, and we have a second chance. The referee made mistakes but he was big enough to admit to them – all credit to him. 

“It was a tight game and I thought they came for the draw. But we played it too long and didn’t use our passing as we have been doing. But the changes freshened it up. And what a fantastic cross from ‘Spud’ for the equaliser; it swerved in the wind, the ‘keeper misjudged it and Roachy finished it off!” 

Yarmouth – A Osborne, A Darby, A Sewell, G Roberts, A Ager, M Saunders, S Woodcock (L Bartley 67), M Magee, S Roach, J Reed (M Thompson 74), D Smith (V Formoso 67). Unused subs: T Gorbould, B Junior.

Raunds – A Talbot, C Walton, A Campion, J Moss, G Fitzgerald, S Smeathers, A Mann, R Chambers, C Bates, C Long, J Tite. Subs: A Kirkup, J Whatfield, T Scarrett, L Howard.

Referee – Julian Gibbons (Ipswich)

Attendance - 147