Essex Cup Senior Cup Fourth Round: Chelmsford City 1 Southend United 1 (after 90 minutes: Southend win 2-0 on penalties)
Strikers Scott Spencer and Harry Crawford would have been involved but Screech is injured, while young Harry has the flu.
This really was a battle of the reserve teams in front of a couple of hundred supporters as even the Clarets, also in the middle of a fixture log jam themselves, decided to rest a number of players after back-to-back victories and an important Conference South game on Saturday.
Even so they still shocked the Shrimpers by taking a lead with only 5 minutes on the clock, Mark Crick surprising Blues keeper Glenn Morris with a super lob from outside the box.
However, just before the break Matt Paterson continued his run of scoring in cup games whenever Blues boss Paul Sturrock picks him, by grabbing the equaliser after the the Chelmsford defence went walkabout.
This soon after hitting the bar when the ball came off his thigh!
Not much to report after that in a game that dragged on through a painful second half and an even duller period of extra-time, only to be saved by the referee's whistle for a cup tie that was now to be decided by a penalty shoot-out.
And shot stopper Morris was certainly the Shrimpers star in that!
He saved three of Chelmsford's four penalties they took, (Matthew Lock, Stephen Reed, Oliver Rowe, guilty), while they hit the bar with their third, oh dear!
Anthony Furlong's third Shrimpers spot-kick went well over the bar, but it didn't matter.
Paterson scored the first, and when Adetayo Osifuwa hit home the second that was enough, thanks to the Morris herorics, to make sure it's the Blues Two's who travel to Greys Athletic in the quarter finals, the date to be arranged.
Chelmsford City: Pullen, Batchford, Rowe, Tann, Haines (Johnson 70), Crick, Lock, Reed, Higgins (Vyse 99), Bricknell (Edmans 53), Ake.
Subs not used: Clarke, Nunn.
Southend United: Morris, Osefuna, Phillips (Furlonge 65), Prosser, Gilbert, Woodyard, Abdellah (Smith 102), James-Lewis, Patterson, Ofori-Acheampong (Milner 82), Bouzid.
Subs not used: Bentley, Stevens.
Bookings: Clarets: Crick. Shrimpers: Prosser.
Referee: Rob Whitton (Braintree).
Assistant Referees: Pat Shanahan (Romford) and Jeff Stanley (Basildon).
Attendence: 203
Essex Senior Cup Uodate 1 - Halstead Town 1-2 Hullbridge Sports (Report)
The Essex Senior Cup is a knock-out system football competition that has been running since 1884, and is the most prestigious cup competition in the county.
Round One (by 11th September 2010)
Round Two (by 9th October 2010)
2 - Stansted 3-1 Stanway Rovers
3 - London APSA 3-3 Basildon United (aet, 3-1 pens) (Report)
4 - Hullbridge Sports 4-3 FC Clacton (aet)
5 - Barking 4-0 Takeley (Report)
6 - Southend Manor 2-2 Eton Manor (aet, 3-4 pens)
7 - Burnham Ramblers 2-3 Witham Town (Report)
8 - Wivenhoe Town 3-1 Saffron Walden Town (aet)
9 - Bowers & Pitsea 2-0 Barkingside
Round Three (by 6th November 2010)
10 - Romford 2-4 Stansted
11 - Heybridge Swifts 3-1 Maldon & Tiptree (aet) (Report)
12 - Wivenhoe Town 0-2 Grays Athletic
13 - Chelmsford City 2-1 Witham Town (Report)
14 - Canvey Island 4-1 Harlow Town (Report)
15 - Southend United 4-1 Barking (Report)
16 - Bowers & Pitsea 0-2 Brentwood Town
17 - Tilbury 2-5 Aveley
18 - Hullbridge Sports 2-1 Redbridge (Report)
19 - London APSA 0-1 Billericay Town (Report)
20 - Eton Manor 1-6 AFC Hornchurch (Report)
21 - East Thurrock United 3-2 Waltham Abbey
22 - Great Wakering Rovers 3-1 Waltham Forest (aet)
23 - Concord Rangers 3-1 Thurrock
24 - Dagenham & Redbridge 3-2 Colchester United (aet)
25 - Braintree Town 2-0 Ilford
Round Four (by 4th December 2010)
26 - Brentwood Town 0-2 Great Wakering Rovers
27 - Chelmsford City vs Southend United
(Wednesday 5th January, 7:30pm)
28 - Aveley 2-0 Braintree Town
29 - Billericay Town vs East Thurrock United
(Tuesday 11th January, 7:45pm)
30 - Concord Rangers vs AFC Hornchurch
(Tuesday 11th January, 7:45pm)
31 - Stansted 1-2 Grays Athletic (Report)
32 - Hullbridge Sports 0-2 Heybridge Swifts (Report)
33 - Dagenham & Redbridge 2-3 Canvey Island
Quarter-Finals (by 29th January 2011)
34 - Heybridge Swifts vs Winners of Match 30
35 - Winners of Match 29 vs Great Wakering Rovers
36 - Canvey Island vs Aveley
(Tuesday 25th January, 7:45pm)
37 - Grays Athletic vs Winners of Match 27
Semi-Finals (by 5th February 2011)
Final (Details To Be Confirmed)
(Thanks to www.essexfa.com for all the results and reports)