Brackley Town 1, Stourbridge 0.

STOURBRIDGE can consider theselves unfortunate not to have at least taken this replay to extra time after they seemed to have what looked a perfectly good goal ruled out and fell victim to a dubious penalty decision.

It was always going to be tough for Stourbridge, who were themselves denied a last minute penalty on Saturday which could have seen the need for a replay wiped out.

This time the game between two evenly matched sides hinged on two major decisions.

The first on 73 minutes saw Sam Rock’s bullet header, which gave the Brackley goalkeeper no chance, ruled out.

Rock appeared to come from behind the defence to meet Les Hine’s cross and the late flag was met with derision and disbelief by the players and loyal Glassboys supporters behind the goal.

Ten minutes later, Gavin Winsper was adjudged to have handled in the area. The decision was debatable as Winsper was on the ground after being hit defending a hard shot and the ball bounced off his body and on to his arm.

Lewis Solly, who had earlier produced a magnificent save by Mackey to tip- his shot over the bar, faced the same player for the penalty and made a magnificent save, only for the ball to come back out to Mackey and with no defenders on hand to stop him, he crashed his shot home.

Brackley might just have shaded the verdict, at least in possession terms, with Stourbridge relying on the counter-attack for their chances, one of these coming in the 44th minute of a poor first half when a Ryan Broadhurst shot came off the keeper’s legs.

On 61 minutes, Les Hines put in a corner and Nathan Bennett’s scooped shot narrowly went over the bar and three minutes later Leon Broadhurst had a shot saved.

But the Stourbridge keeper Solly was again called upon to show how solid he is when he made a point blank save from former QPR striker Tony Thorpe.

In the end, Stourbridge lacked the cutting edge which would have seen them through this replay comfortably, and fell victim to the sort of fate which can befall any team in such a highly charged FA Cup tie.

Stourbridge : Lewis Solly, Drew Canavan, Les Hines, Ross Collins, Ryan Broadhurst, Nathan Bennett, Craig Slater (c), Leon Broadhurst, Sam Rock, James Dyson, Dave Bridgwater.

Subs: Ryan Mahon (for Dyson 73), Gavin Winsper (For Slater 45), Morgan Brookes, Adam Cross, Adam Clifton.