Hitchin Town Football Club

Hitchin Town 2 Marlow 1 (AET)

Tuesday, November 29 2005

The lowest crowd ever to watch a competitive match at Hitchin was treated to a bonus half-hour on a bone-numbing night at Top Field.

Just 55 people saw the Canaries beat Marlow after 120 minutes in a contest best described as forgettable. But Hitchin now move into the last 16 of the Errea Cup, a competition that has yet to capture the imagination of the public.

The highlight of the first half was just before the interval when Aaran Cavill struck the post with a low drive from outside the area.The deadlock was broken in the 56th minute when a cross by Neil Pugh was turned home by new signing Luke Maitland.

But Marlow drew level in the 71st minute when Jamie Charles shot into the net from close range following a scramble.Both sides could have gone ahead before the end of 90 minutes, with Marlow’s Sam Shepherd shooting wide in the dying seconds.

Four minutes into extra time, Hitchin netted what proved to be the winner, Wayne Mills crossing to the near post and Thomas Hayes headed past Marlow goalkeeper Ian McTaggart. It still needed a Richard Wilmot save to prevent the game from going to penalties, for which the by now frozen crowd were grateful.

Hitchin: Wilmot, J.Mills, Ayres, Lamacraft, McMenamin (Jenner 63), Cavill, Lochhead, French, Bridge (Hayes 66), Maitland (W.Mills 75), Pugh

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