Late Penalty Costs Soham Share of Spoils

Soham Town Rangers 0 Sutton Coldfield 1 A CONTROVERSIAL penalty awarded just a minute from full time saw Soham denied a richly deserved share of the spoils against Sutton. In what was a keenly contested game throughout, it took a contentious penalty to se

Soham Town Rangers 0

Sutton Coldfield 1

A CONTROVERSIAL penalty awarded just a minute from full time saw Soham denied a richly deserved share of the spoils against Sutton.

In what was a keenly contested game throughout, it took a contentious penalty to separate the two sides as the referee adjudged Soham's Will Seymore to have handled in the box with a matter of seconds left in the game.

A furious Ian Benjamin, who was sent to the stands following his protests, said: "It was the wrong decision by the referee as far as I'm concerned. First and foremost the player had his hands at his side and there was clearly no intention to handle the ball and it was at least a yard outside the box as well.

"I am so disappointed for the lads because they worked incredibly hard to get something from the game and it was taken away from them."

Soham's Dubi Ogbonna performed well for the Greens in attack and created some decent chances in either half, which drew superb saves from the visiting goalkeeper.

Wideman Deakan Napier and Josh Turner were also decent contributors from the wing, with Turner in particular weighing in with some testing balls.

Green's custodian Jamie Chamberlain, raised his stock with a solid display that saw him twice deny the visitors in the first-half with some excellent saves from close range.

All their efforts ultimately proved in vein however, as, with just a minute to go before full time, a whipped ball from the Sutton right, caught Seymore on the arm and was adjudged by the referee to have been worthy of a penalty.

Craig Marshall was on hand to convert the spot-kick with minimum fuss, smashing down the middle of the goal as Chamberlain gambled wide.