Two late goals in the second half from Euan Pollock and Ezio Touray salvaged a remarkable comeback in the FA Cup Third Round Qualifying this afternoon at the Charters Community Stadium.
Up until Euan scored his first in a Weymouth shirt with 11 minutes left, Winchester City had found themselves two goals ahead and looked the considerably more impressive side.
City had earned their lead through goals from Jamie Barron and Tom Wright, both coming either side of the half-time whistle.
But, with the magic of the FA Cup, no team is down and out until the final whistle.
This was shown when Ezio headed in from a yard out, five minutes after Euan had initially given us a lifeline.
For much of the game we looked set to exit the FA Cup in the Third Round Qualifying; instead, we have another chance to enter the final round of qualifying via a home replay this coming Tuesday.
Mark Molesley told us this week of his “consistency with team selection,” with the gradual return of key players from injury setbacks.
This was proven this afternoon, as we named the same line-up for the third successive game.
The early minutes already gave an indicator of the intensity of the tie, when Barron sent the ball past Will Buse after just eight minutes.
The goal, however, was ruled as the ball hit the net; fortunately for us, Charlie Rowan was judged to have been fouled inside the box.
Ik Hill then saw his shot fizz just left of the post two minutes later, his long-distance effort providing further warning to our players.
Luckily, though, our first major opportunity came just a minute on, when Euan rounded City goalkeeper Luke Cairney.
His impressive skill, after being fed by a Jordan Maguire-Drew through ball, unfortunately ended in the ball smacking against the post.
We then looked close to scoring once more just after the game’s first corner, before the ball slowly looped into Carney’s hands.
But, despite our chances causing notable danger, the hosts would meanwhile grow in increasing threat throughout the half.
Trevor Caborn turned and fired wide five minutes before the break, before Wright had a go from approx. 25 yards.
But, with all the entertaining end-to-end action, the first half, somehow, looked to end goalless.
Until Hill laid the ball off to Barron on the edge of the box four minutes into added time.
With the ball deflecting on the way to Will’s goal, our shot-stopper was ultimately helpless, as the ball crossed the line as we headed into the break a goal down.
We had little time to rest in the second half, as Wright doubled the hosts’ lead just seconds after the whistle was blown.
A shot-cum-pass from Dan Jones found Wright, who initially appeared offside.
The City forward, though, played to the whistle, slotted past our keeper to ensure a 2-0 scoreline at the start of the second half.
If we already had a mountain to climb, Wright’s goal made it even steeper.
Though the game ceased to stop its end-to-end play, as we found ourselves on the front foot just two minutes later.
Andreas Robinson struck on the edge of the box with the outside of his boot, and may have put us back in the game had Cairney not jumped to somehow tip the ball over the bar.
But, with the hosts gradually reclaiming control as the second half ticked on, Mark quickly introduced three substitutions, before bringing on Ezio Touray with just over 20 minutes remaining.
Initially, though, it appeared to do little to deter the hosts, as they continued to have chances.
Luka Chalwell’ curling strike caused some discomfort for Will, before he set up substitute Simba Mlambo, who fired wide just after his introduction.
Besides those City chances, the scoreline looked unlikely to change, as the game was nearing its final 10 minutes.
That was until a mix-up occurred amongst the hosts’ defence.
This allowed Euan to slot home from close-range; out of nowhere, we were now suddenly back in the game with 11 minutes left to play.
This awoke something within our players, who then proceeded to pepper Cairney’s goal.
Andreas then tried again from outside the box, his dangerous effort being denied by Cairney once again.
The City keeper had less luck keeping out our next chance, as Ezio found himself in the perfect position to turn things around once and for all.
Barely a yard out, our sub headed into the net, ensuring both sides were two goals apiece with six minutes left.
With full time looming on the horizon, there was just about enough time for either side to find a winner.
The team closest to achieving that was us, when Calvin Brooks struck just left of the left-hand post in stoppage time.
This didn’t stop substitute Dan Bartlett trying to score from his own half with one of the last kicks of the game.
This perhaps summed up the absurdity of this cup tie, which is set to happen all over again on our turf this coming Tuesday evening [19.45 BST].
For now, our quest to reach the First Round proper continues…
