Larkhall go through to the next round of the Emirates FA Cup

The Larks booked their place in the 2nd Round Qualifying of the Emirates FA Cup thanks to a dramatic injury time winner from Alex Lambert.

The home side had to come back from behind twice and if Bitton’s forwards had been more accurate in their finishing it would have been a different story.

Bitton shocked the crowd of over 200 spectators by taking the lead after only three minutes, ex-Lark Josh Egan scoring easily from distance after our defence were caught flat-footed. An injury to midfielder Dale Evans forced a substitution on the half hour mark, with James Byrne coming on in his stead. The Larks rallied quickly, and we were back on level terms by half-time after Lewis Powell got on the end of a corner and headed home.

Again Bitton were the first to find the net in the second half with a powerful header off a corner from Ashley Kington. We gained parity again when Dan Restorick was brought down in the box on 80 minutes and Lewis stepped up to fire home. Then for a spell it was really all about the visitors with Shaun Semmens putting in a man of the match performance with some stunning saves.

It looked like we were heading for a penalty shoot out as the players tired, but an inspired substitution changed the game. Alex Lambert came on for Leon Greenland to give us fresh legs up front and as the clock ticked down he linked up superbly with Dan Demkiv to grab a winner in injury time. Cue wild scenes of celebration on the Plain Ham terraces!

Photo of Lewis’s first goal by Nigel Battrick.