Evesham Utd 2, Taunton Tn 1

WHAT should have ended up as a cricket score saw a profligate home side hanging on in stoppage-time to book a place in the Southern League Cup second round, writes Mervyn Collins.

However, nothing should be taken away from what was a tremendous United display against the Division One West leaders who were simply outclassed, especially in the second half when Dave Busst's side should really have banged in half-a-dozen.

The two they did manage in the 50th and 68th minutes came courtesy of Jermaine Clarke and Wesley Joyce, whose pace proved a real handful for Tuesday night's visitors.

The first half was only really memorable for a nasty challenge that saw Dave Carns stretchered off and a late near post header from Clarke that was pushed over the bar by Town keeper Dave Mogg.

However, the withdrawal of skipper Alex Watson, brother of former Everton man Dave, left huge holes down the middle of the Taunton back line and Joyce and Clarke were the men to take advantage.

Mogg tipped over Joyce's header a minute after the restart but he was helpless to intervene when Clarke clinically finished off a move involving his strike partner, Lee Knight and Grant Pinkney.

The latter was in imperious mood down the left and a lovely pass into Clarke's path after 54 minutes saw the gangling striker volley over the top with only Mogg to beat.

The Taunton keeper then excelled with a double save to deny Joyce and Clarke before the latter latched on to a stray back pass, rounded Mogg but could only direct his shot wide of a gaping goal.

A second goal finally arrived with 22 minutes left on the clock when Gavin O'Toole's perfect flag-kick delivery was thumped into the top corner by the head of Joyce.

Mogg produced a diving stop to keep out O'Toole's curler and then again denied Clarke after Joyce's neat pass.

More brilliance from Pink-ney ended with Clarke hea-ding wide before the striker was replaced by Craig Pountney for the final seven minutes of normal time.

Four minutes of injury-time followed and that after Jason Rees had caught the Robins napping with a quick free-kick that halved the deficit.

Alarm bells weren't quite ringing but, if Gary Fisher's volley from 15 yards had found the right side of Tim Clarke post, then the whole complexion of the evening could have changed.

However, it was applause all round and deserved pats on the back for all involved in what was a fabulous display by Busst's boys.

Carns is expected to be fit for Saturday's trip to second in the table Rothwell Town, while Busst is hoping to welcome back midweek absentees Leon Blake (flu), Steve Duncan (work) and Ravi Sangha (family bere-avement) as United chase a first league double of the season.

The Evesham manager revealed that Marc Burrow who played his first match of the season on Tuesday was unlikely to feature in Northamptonshire, although with Duncan missing next Tuesday, the versatility man would be back in the shake-up against Thame United.

Busst revealed that he was likely to revert to the Joyce/Sangha combination for Saturday's game - a move that would allow the luxury of having Clarke on the bench.

"Jermaine's young and he's got a lot to learn," Busst admitted. "He's disappointed tonight because he knows that he should be taking the match ball home. Bringing Ravi in has given him a kick up the backside and he's a useful lad to have on the bench because the opposition just don't know what to expect from him when we throw him on."

While all the talk on Tuesday was of Evesham's attacking capability, Busst's prime concern is his defence.

"Clean sheets win lea-gues," the Common Road chief declared. "If we keep one on Saturday then I will be happy. They did ever so well last weekend but slipped up late on tonight and I've let them know about it."