Sherchan stands out and Brei the shootout hero as Longlevens advance in the Floodlit Cup
Soyam Sherchan put in a Man of the Match display whilst Drew Brei saved two spot kicks as Longlevens edged past FC Stratford in the Wiseman Lighting Floodlit Cup.
Following a 0-0 match on a bitterly cold evening, the tie was decided by penalties, with the hosts scoring all four to clinch a 4-2 win after Brei’s heroics.
After Dan Baldwin and Ollie Long exchanged converted efforts, Brei saved Ben Chaundy’s effort well to his left, before Alex Knight blasted home to give the hosts the lead.
Brei saved again, this time leaping to his right to keep out Ben Cook’s effort and after Shaun O’Connor emphatically fired into the roof of the net it was match point Longlevens.
Toby Nicoll sent Brei the wrong way to keep FC Stratford in the tie, but Lewis Driscoll converted to see Longlevens through to the next round.
The win keeps up a good month for Levens, who have advanced in both the Hellenic League Challenge Cup and now Floodlit Cup – as well as claiming four points from their two league fixtures so far in November.
But they have two tough tests to round off the month, with a trip to Mangotsfield United on Saturday – before putting their unbeaten home run on the line against league leaders Roman Glass St George the following weekend.
With promotion chasing Corsham also coming up for Buster Davies & Pete Boyle’s side, they will be going into a tough run of games full of confidence after being able to get the job done on a night where they were able to rest a number of first team players.
Cam Williams, Fin Gwillim, Jack Byard, Shiyak Sutherland and Dan Roddis were amongst those afforded the night off for the hosts, but were in attendance to see chances for Tom Spencer, Soyam Sherchan, Logan Weyman, Archie Myatt to start and Reserve team trio Rylan Snelgrove, Kaya Demirok and Fin Rankin to also earn valuable First Team minutes and for the most part, saw their teammates have the better of proceedings.
Knight’s 5th minute corner was headed over by Jack Beardsell, before Brad Martin’s long range effort was held by Ethan Pheasey.
Martin slipped a ball through to Knight on 15 minutes, but his effort from the left side of the box rebounded off the upright and fell away as Levens looked for an early breakthrough.
Pheasey was called into action five minutes later to keep out Ben Lodge’s effort, after he got onto a chest down from Martin.
Tom Spencer’s long ball forward fell through for Myatt, who got there ahead of the on-rushing Pheasey, but he couldn’t quite keep his lob on target.
Lodge and Knight combined well on the edge of the box before the former Fairford Town man drilled an effort wide, as Longlevens dominated the opening 25 minutes.
On half an hour there were chances at both ends, as FC Stratford were able to settle into a rhythm.
Myatt had an effort blocked for the hosts and within seconds the visitors were down the other end with Nicoll and then Cian Hodson both seeing goalbound efforts blocked as well.
Then right on half time it was Stratford who would have the best chance of the half as a ball in from the left rolled through to Tom Daccus, but he skied his effort at the back post.
The start of the second half was sloppy and lacked any real quality on the ball from either side, with Toby Nicoll having the only chance of the opening 15 minutes, but he dragged his shot well wide.
Knight curled a free kick straight at Pheasey just after the hour mark, as the game looked destined for penalties early.
Sherchan maintained an intensity in the midfield for the hosts to earn himself the C Martin Roofing Man of the Match from us, as he gained some good minutes from the start.
Knight drilled an effort wide from 18 yards, before Stratford substitute Dan Shaw curled an effort straight at Brei after a corner was cleared and recycled to him on the edge of the box.
And in injury time, Stratford nearly pinched it as a long throw in was hurled towards the Levens box and after it was flicked on, Brei leapt back to palm away from under his own crossbar and penalties it was.
Brei received well earned plaudits for his saves in the shootout, but was relatively quiet in the game as Longlevens kept their third clean sheet in the last four matches.
As previously mentioned, they go to Mangotsfield United on Saturday full of confidence, as they look to build on a great few weeks for Davies & Boyle’s men.
Longlevens: Brei, Beardsell, Troke, Long, Spencer, Sherchan, Lodge, Weyman, Martin, Knight, Myatt
Subs: Snelgrove, Rankin, Driscoll, Demirok, O’Connor
FC Stratford: Pheasey, Hodson, Cook, Thompson, Waterfield, Purvin, Batchelor, Baldwin, Daccus, Nicoll, Sone
Subs: Shaw, Chaundy, Bendall, Atkins, Williams.
C Martin Roofing Man of the Match – Soyam Sherchan (Longlevens)
READ MORE: Check out the list of Saturday’s fixtures in and around Gloucestershire right here
