Frustration as Leamington Ladies exit FA Cup to Droitwich Spa as decisions go against them
Leamington Ladies felt hard done by as decisions went against them as they exited the Women's FA Cup with a 3-2 defeat in Sunday's Preliminary Round at home to Droitwich Spa Ladies.
That saw the Brakes miss out the chance to play in the First Round Qualifying with the financial benefits progression gives.
Greg Warren's outfit were looking to build on a 4-2 win over Long Itchington the week before and started brightly with Poppy Kelly causing problems for the left side of the Droitwich defence, showing excellent skill to take on two defenders before firing into the sidenetting.
Droitwich threatened at the other end shortly afterwards, with referee Graham Flavell missing a clear handball in the middle of the park, allowing the visitors to work the ball upfield to win a corner.
The resulting delivery bobbled around the Leamington box before being smashed into the roof of Parri Uppal's net to give the away side the lead.
Kelly was involved again three minutes after the opening goal, chopping inside the box before sending an effort narrowly wide.
Georgia Marrett then produced a brilliant solo run for the visitors, carrying the ball into the Leamington box before being unable to curl her effort into the far corner.
Parity was restored in the 27th minute, as a brilliant ball from the right-hand side was met by Naomi Morgan, whose first touch took the ball past Georgia Grant in the Droitwich goal, setting her up for a second touch to put the ball into an empty net.
Just a minute later, Morgan completed a remarkable turnaround.
Leamington robbed the ball back from kick-off and opened up the Droitwich defence, with Meg Smirles sending the ball into the box for Morgan to head beyond the goalkeeper and put the Brakes 2-1 ahead, making it two in the game and three this season for Morgan.
Droitwich looked for an immediate response, with Tilly Pearson creating space on the edge of the box before shooting wide.
However, the visitors did find an equaliser on 35 minutes and it was from another set piece.
Brakes failed to deal with a long range free kick, with a follow-up being lofted over Uppal to make it 2-2.
Droitwich then completed the turnaround four minutes later with a well-taken goal to put the visitors ahead.
There was further frustration for the Brakes just before the break as a penalty appeal was waved away following an incident inside the Droitwich box.
Leamington came out strongly after the interval and immediately began putting the visitors under pressure, who looked happy to park the bus and invite pressure.
Morgan went close to completing her hat-trick in the 47th minute when she attempted to lob Grant, only to see her effort fall narrowly wide.
The Brakes continued to dominate possession as Droitwich dropped increasingly deep with wave after wave of pressure following, Leamington winning a number of corners and testing the defence, albeit not the keeper.
Midway through the second half came another huge moment of controversy.
A corner appeared to be punched off the line by a Droitwich outfield player, but referee Flavell opted not to award a penalty, much to the disbelief of everyone inside the ground that none of the three officials had seen a visiting hand make contact with the ball.
Leamington continued to push, with Georgia Conway introduced to add fresh legs and energy to the attack.
Despite sustained pressure and further opportunities, the Brakes could not find the breakthrough they needed, with Droitwich holding on to progress into the next round.
Leamington will no doubt be frustrated not to have taken the contest to penalties after a second-half performance in which they pushed relentlessly for an equaliser.