Weston were held to a 1-1 draw by Worcester City in a full-blooded third qualifying round FA Cup game.

WESTON-S-MARE 1

WORCESTER CITY 1

REFEREE Chris Powell had a controversial but busy afternoon at the Woodspring Stadium as he dismissed two players, booked six others and awarded 34 free kicks in this full-blooded third qualifying round FA Cup game.

Worcester’s Charlie Reece was shown a straight red card on 17 minutes on Weston keeper Lloyd Irish, who had come well off his line to make a clearance. Three minutes before the break Weston’s Jamie Laird was shown a second yellow for a reckless challenge,

Worcester were first to attack with Tom Thorley’s cross going narrowly wide on two minutes and Danny Glover having a header on target two minutes later..

As Weston got into the game, Nabi Diallo was well over with an effort on eight minutes, but they did better four minutes later from their first corner taken by Ross Stearn from the right. As the ball zipped into the six-yard box, Kane Ingram knocked it past Worcester keeper Matt Sergeant.

The rest of the half was marked by the sendings off and yellow cards for Jamie Price and Ben Kirk for Weston and Worcester’s Tyler Weir.

With the dismissal of Laird, Weston brought on Matt Villis, taking off Ingram, and early in the second off bringing on Dayle Grubb for Stearn and midway through the half substituting Diallo for Ashley Kington.

This deprived Weston of a great deal of their attacking force, and Worcester pinned them in their own half for long periods.

Before he left, Stearn cracked an effort off a Worcester post, but at the other end, Mike Symonds was denied by a superb tackle by Jamie Price. Then, Weir should have done better from substitute Gregg Mills on 65 minutes, while at the other end, Villis was narrowly wide from Weston’s third corner.

Grubb had a long-distance effort turned over his bar by Sergeant on 68 minutes and at the other end, Irish did well on 81 minutes, tipping Matt Breeze fizzer over his bar.

However, Breeze did better a minute later when he beat Irish with a superb 25 yard effort to bring the game all square.

As the game drifter into added on time, Sargeant made the save of the game, knocking Chas Hemmings’ point-blank effort on to his crossbar and over for Weston’s sixth corner.

WESTON STATS

Goals: Weston, Ingram (12). Worcester, Breeze (72).

Shots on target: Weston 5, Worcester 3.

Shots off target: Weston 5, Worcester 5.

Corners: Weston 5, Worcester 3.

Offsides: Weston 2, Worcester 0.

Referee: Chris Powell (Poole). Inconsistent performance. Upset both sets of supporters and managers.

Free kicks conceded: Weston 16, Worcester 18

Bookings: Weston, Price, Kirk, Irish, Laird (2 yellows). Worcester, Weir, Symonds, Breeze, Reece (red).

Attendance: 556

Weston squad: Irish, Price, Slocombe, Diallo (Kington 77), Parry, Laird, Stearn (Grubb 59), Kirk, Hemmings, Ingram (Villis 43), Trowbridge. Subs (not used): Pepperell, Young, Monks, McClaggon.

WESTON are back in Blue Square South action on Saturday when they travel to Maidenhead with the team coach leaving at 10.30am

In the second round of the Somerset Premier Cup, Weston will entertain Frome Town on November 6 (7.45pm). This game will be played to a finish with extra time and penalties, if necessary.