Pitchero Non League

.....crashed out of the FA Carlsberg Vase by 2-1 at Sydenhams Football League (Wessex) outfit Bournemouth Poppies and missed out on an all Northern League quarter final against West Auckland.

The Synners were leading 1-0 when Danny Earl missed a penalty, bringing back memories of a miss in the semi-final five years ago that denied them a place at Wembley.

The Poppies recovered from that let off, and scored twice in the last 20 minutes to earn a place in the quarters against the competition favourites.

“It was a very frustrating and very disappointing result,” he said. “We were much the better side, and should have been more than 1-0 up and killed the game off.

“Danny Earl missed a penalty, but I don’t blame him. At least he was brave enough to take it.

“We missed so many chances it was untrue, and when they equalised, that gave them the impetus to go on and win the game.”

Robbie Bettson put Synners into the lead from an acute angle from a Ross Gardner pass, and they squandered chance after chance to make the game safe.

They hit the woodwork twice and missed chances from just a few yards, and after Earl missed the penalty, he also missed a one-on-one.

Bournemouth levelled through Max Cream on 70 minutes, and then Fawzi Saadi got the winner with 8 minutes left.

To finish off a bad day, Synners’ midfielder Chay Liddle was shown red with 3 minutes left.

There is still a chance of two Northern League clubs in the semis, as Dunston UTS are at Peterborough Northern Star on Saturday.