In a nailbiting cup tie Badshot Lea held their nerve to defeat their Blue Square South neighbours Woking 5-3 on penalties

Badshot Lea welcomed Woking to Cherrywood Road for the first meeting of the two teams.

Woking played a strong side with no fewer than 7 first teamers and the hosts were certainly going to be put to a stern test.Badshot Lea had a disasterous start with Billy Hussey driving a twenty-five yard speculative shot straight at Matt Watson, the ball moved in the air and left him stranded off his line and the ball nestled in the net. Two minutes later the lively Moses Ademola took the ball to the goal line and whipped in a deep cross for Matthew Wright to climb high and place a header in the top corner to double their advantage.The Badshot Lea players, staff and supporters must have had thoughts of Ashford Town (Middx) earlier in the season when they were embarrassed by 10-0 in the FA Cup. This would test the resolve and character of the young Badshot Lea side but just as previous times they rose to the challenge.

The next goal was going to be so important as if Woking had scored it would be a huge mountain to climb to get back into the tie.On 8 minutes the home side were back in the game. Matt McClure sprung the offside trap and the loanee from Wycombe Wanderers ran free and took the ball around Matt Pegler and tuck the ball home. This gave the home side belief and impetus as they continued to cause Woking problems down the channels particularly with Woking playing a very narrow game.

Woking were seeing a lot of the ball but any crosses and shots lacked direction and purpose to trouble the home side further.

At the other end Badshot Lea continued to press and Peglar was kept busy in the Woking goal.Badshot Lea had a shout for a penalty as Fitchett fell in the box from a challenge from McNerney but the referee waived the claims away.Badshot Lea continued to press and their pressure told as they were awarded a corner two minutes later. The ball was played in by Sowden and it caused uncertainty in the Woking defence as they allowed it to bounce between McClure and Brad Smith and through a crowd of players McClure managed to toe poke a shot over the line to bring his side level.Then with almost the last kick of the half Woking nearly re-took the lead. Matthew Wright had a clear shot on goal but Watson cleared the ball with his feet and averted the danger.

Half-time: Badshot Lea 2 Woking 2

Badshot Lea came out of the traps at the start of the second half and really took the game to their visitors. An excellent through ball by Westell saw a straight race between Brad Smith and Peglar in the Woking goal and the young keeper wiped out player and ball just outside the box.Was he the last man was it a clear goalscoring opportunity? The referee duly awarded a yellow. Minutes later Matthew Wright went in for a challenge with Dan Griffiths right in front of the main stand. The referee deemed that he led with his elbow and although no injury occurred and his elbow didn't connect the referee felt it was dangerous play and sent the Woking man off.

This completely changed the game because for some reason the home side adopted a long ball game having played their normal passing game up to that point.You would have to say the sending off kicked Woking into shape and they took control of the match at this point.They did however lack the killer touch in front of goal frustrating their bench and supporters particularly with some of their shot selections.The pressure and possession finally paid off when substitute Ola Sogbanmu collected the ball from Billy Hussey and from the edge of the box he hit a low shot which went under Watson's body and into the net.

Woking sat back and relied on the counter attack.From one of these attacks Ola Sogbanmu nearly grabbed a second goal as his deflected shot clipped the post on 85 minutes.Credit to the home side they kept going and with two minutes left of the four minutes added on substitute Mark Peters collected the ball on the left channel and his deep cross was met on the volley by Fitchett who had got across his marker Aswad Thomas’s and the ball found the net past Peglar to draw the sides level.The game went into extra time and both sides cancelled each other out. Badshot Lea had the best chance to win the tie when McCoy headed powerfully from a corner and unluckily the ball rebounded to safety off the inside of the post.

The game then entered the dreaded penalties. Badshot Lea were racking their brains to remember the last time they won a shoot out having experienced heartbreak against Camberley Town and Sandhurst Town in recent Cup Finals.

The home side held their nerve with five excellent penalties from Peters, Fitchett, Westell, McCoy and Sowden and with Woking missing their first one the home side recorded a famous win, probably the biggest in their history. The profile of the club continues to grow and maybe just maybe they will start to be taken seriously in local football.