Tiverton Tn 1, Evesham Utd 1

A BATTLING final half-an-hour's display after Steve Duncan was sent off earned the Robins a second bite of this season's FA Cup cherry, writes Mervyn Collins.

The midfielder might have felt harshly done by after a tangle of legs with Steve Daly but his dismissal didn't prove costly although at the time United were more than capable of snatching a second goal.

They took the lead after 13 minutes just seconds after another controversial decision looked to have gone Evesham's way.

Shaun Goff swung over a free-kick that appeared to strike the hand of a United defender but the referee turned down vehement appeals as the visitors broke away. Leon Blake found Jermaine Clarke 30 yards from goal and the bustling striker forged his way forward before beating Mark Ovendale with a left foot shot.

Duncan and Richard Ball both had efforts on goal saved before a poor goal kick by Dave Adey led to the equaliser. The goalkeeper slipped on the greasy turf and his kick found its way back into the penalty area where Stewart Yetton's 12-yard shot took a wicked deflection off Adam Cooper and wrongfooted the stand-in custodian.

Yetton then nodded a gilt-edged chance over the top while Adey produced a scrambling save to thwart Chris Bale.

A wayward back pass gave Ball the chance to restore Evesham's advantage on the half-hour but Ovendale smothered the striker's volley.

There was early action in the same goalmouth after the restart when Adey palmed over a piledriver from Mike Booth before Ball's dead-ball strike was deflected wide and Blake's cross shot skimmed a yard wide of Ovendale's right-hand upright.

When Duncan endeavoured to shake off the attentions of the similarly grounded Daly, a referee's assistant viewed it as violent conduct and the visitors were left to battle on in pursuit of a place in the second qualifying round.

And battle they did although they were helped by two serious injuries to Town players, who were themselves forced to reorganise.

Substitutes Dave Hambly and Reinier Moor were both quickly in the thick of the attacking action but it was Yetton who had the best chance to make it 2-1 12 minutes from time only for Adey to produce a miraculous stop to keep out the unmarked striker's ten-yard drive.

Ball, who was replaced by Jamie Bailey after 79 minutes, Blake and Cooper were all yellow-carded but a different set of cards seemed to be stacked in United's about in stoppage-time.

Adey missed a centre but Yetton could only direct his header over the top before Daly did the same from a corner and Kurt Nogan's 95th minute volley was brilliantly kept out by Adey but it wouldn't have counted as a linesman had already raised his flag.