A BUMPER crowd turned out at Lowther Road on Friday evening to watch Binfield defeat Wokingham & Emmbrook to progress in the FA Cup.
With a local clash pitting the two sides against each other in the Preliminary round of the FA Cup, the Sumas, who play in Combined Counties North, put up a strong test against the Isthmian South Central side.
Former Wokingham Town and local football legend who played for Wokingham before managing Aldershot Town, AFC Wimbledon, Margate and Basingstoke Town was in attendance.
The opening quarter of an hour saw a scrappy affair played between the sides as both teams failed to make the goalkeepers work with some wayward efforts.
The game turned in the 20th minute when the visitors were awarded a penalty.
Binfield forward Dontaye Whittaker capitalised on an underhit back pass to beat a defender to the ball before he was tripped.
But Sumas goalkeeper Emilio Fantocchio came to the rescue with a stunning save as he dove to his left to palm the spot kick away.
Wokingham then responded with some chances of their own as Jake Woods saw a fierce effort tipped over the bar by Harvey Rackley-Hayes.
The home team continued to press for an opener and came close when O’Connor headed down in the corner but was thwarted by Rackley-Hayes.
With the game approaching half-time, the deadlock was broken as a strike from Binfield’s Daniel Lewis took a wicked deflection to loop over the keeper before finding the net.
The Sumas went in search of levelling the tie after the restart but found Moles’ keeper Rackley-Hayes a tough nut to crack.
The Binfield keeper was in inspired form as he stopped efforts from O’Connor and Goodwin to keep his team in front.
The Moles sealed their place in the next round with a goal in the final minutes of the match as Noah Chengun finished from close range.
Sumas: Fantocchio, Wilson, Hanworth, Green, Wright, Miller, O’Connor, Badshah, Mckenzie, woods, Morgan
Subs: Gill, Goodwin, Sharman, Harris, Millward, Collier, Cox
Binfield: Rackley-Hayes, Drake, Campbell, Winser, Lewis, Stanic-Stewart, Stallard, Robinson, Chengun, Whittaker, Knight
Subs: Hannachi, Harvey, Mabukwa, Brady, Murray, Sanussi
