The first came in the first minute of the game as Chasetown stormed into the Borough half from the kick off and with John Branch surprising his marker to outpace him to a through ball, the attacking wing back was tripped in the area. The referee waved play on after claiming not to have seen the incident writes Russell Brown.

Chasetown, making two changes to the side that had been held to a draw at Church Street, called upon returning striker Lee Bullimore to partner Danny Smith up front as they attempted to make it through to the third qualifying round.

On ten minutes the Stockport based official did see an offence in the visitor’s area and this time there was no hesitation as he pointed to the spot. Keeper Lee Evans guessed correctly to block the initial effort from Steve Howson but the ball rebounded kindly for the striker to tuck it away at the second attempt.

Fired up, Chasetown were quickly out to level the tie and Danny Smith almost profited from hesitation from the Radcliffe defence, but Whealing recovered to sweep the ball away from the striker.

A slip from the normally reliable Chris Slater let in Michael Oakes, but Evans was in no mood to be beaten for a second time and saved superbly.
After the break the visitors continued to probe and when Smith delivered the ball in from the right, Craig Holland should have done better than to blaze the ball high over the target.

With Chasetown getting frustrated at the number of incidents that were being awarded the way of the home side, the Scholars found the perfect answer by grabbing the equaliser on 61 minutes. Skipper Lee Parsons finishing off at the far post after two attempts from Holland and Bullimore had been blocked.

That prompted more pressure from the visitors and Smith, Bullimore and Holland all caused problems for an overworked Borough defence.

With their legs buckling and extra time looming, predictably in the final minute of the game, the eagle eyed Mr Thornley spotted a hand ball offence in a crowded penalty area and sprinted 20 yards to award Radcliffe their second penalty of the night.

This time Howson found the net cleanly to send Radcliffe happily into the next round and an away trip to Retford United, whilst the large following of Chasetown supporters left Stainton Park feeling cheated of that opportunity.

With the FA Cup first round proper tie against Team Bath on Saturday looming, manager Charlie Blakemore now has the task to lift his troops as they face their biggest game of the season at Twerton Park.

Chasetown: Evans, J Branch, M Branch, Slater, Thomas, Williams, Steane, Parsons, Bullimore (Edwards), D Smith, Holland

Other Subs: Perry, Spacey, S Smith, Thompson (not used)