Cup of woe …
Les Phillips Cup: Wellington 4, Bradford Town 5 (after extra time)
WELLINGTON were knocked out of the cup by division one leaders Bradford Town in a nine-goal thriller at the Playing Field on Saturday.
The game exploded into life just after the half-hour with four goals in eight minutes.
Liam Milburn put Bradford ahead with a penalty after a foul by Wellington skipper Simon Ingram, who then scored from the spot himself after Shane Kingston had been brought down.
Matt Francis scrambled Wellington ahead after 38 minutes only for the visitors to equalise before the break through Steve Tweddle’s bullet header.
Wellington regained their lead 20 minutes into the second half, Ingram again scoring from the spot after Craig Herrod had been hauled down.
But, urged on by their vociferous supporters, Bradford came back yet again five minutes from time when home keeper Ryan Lewis could only push Tweddle’s shot out to Matt Minnis, who gleefully accepted the chance.
The visitors almost sealed the tie in normal tie as Lewis pulled off a brilliant save to keep out Jerad O’Pray’s overhead kick.
But the keeper turned from hero to villain three minutes into extra time with a sliced clearance which presented Minnis with the chance to make it 4-3.
Six minutes later it was all-square again as Ingram played Darren Stone into space and he scored the goal of the game with a blistering cross-shot.
But Bradford clinched victory in the 109th minute when more sloppy defensive play let in O’Pray to neatly clip the ball past Lewis.
Wellington threw men forward in a bid to take the game to penalties but Francis and sub Andy Butler were both denied by the crossbar.
