The Manor made sure of their place in the next phase of this cup competition with a hard fought win over local rivals Clapton, 1-0.

The opening 10 minutes were without much incident and the Braves went the closer when Paul Marin fired just over after good approach work by Joe May. Clapton came back strongly and Braves keeper Michael Wakefield had to be at his best to deny a good effort by the visitors,The Braves started to assert some influence now and first Neil Barrett shot over the bar when well placed and then Courtney Linton just failed to get on the end of a great cross from Joe Nightingill.

Soon enough the goal came when a great corner from Joe May was touched on for the well positioned Carl Bailey to strike from close range at the far post. 1-0 to the Manor. Clapton fashioned another chance soon after this only to be denied by smart keeping by the Braves keeper.

After the break, the Manor went close on a number of occasions, with Courtney Linton, Tom Nyama and Dean Frett almost increasing the Manor lead. The last 20 minutes were nervous for the home side as they sensed a place in the quarter final draw was close. However, they hung on and the game ended with the Manor keeping a clean sheet.

Both sides played the game in a good spirit and only the over zealous referee knows quite how he managed to book so many players and dismiss another for an innocuous remark.

Man of the Match

Carl Bailey - Another winning goal from Manor's in from centre back.

Manor Team:

1 Michael Wakefield
2 Danny Alleyne (replaced by number 14)
3 Joe Nightingill
4 Carl Bailey - 1
5 Neil Barratt
6 Richard Simpson
7 Joe May
8 Dean Frett (c)
9 Courtney Linton
10 Paul Marin
11 Tom Nyama (replaced by number 12)

12 Ryan Lynch
14 Scott Lovett
15 Andrew Gibbons
16 Tony Hadley