Devizes Town FC 1-1 Bradford Town FC (5-6 Penalties) | Match Report

Bradford Town made their way to Devizes on Tuesday evening for a Wiltshire Derby in the Les Phillips Cup against Western League Division One side Devizes Town.

The hosts brought the pressure early on, but a sharp fourth minute save from Tom Creed ensured that the deadlock remained intact. The Blues kick-started the first half with a well-worked attack in the 20th minute which started with Harvey Woods collecting a ball out wide on the right flank. Woods’ cross to Leo Gallazi, who then unselfishly tapped across to Jensen Wakefield, with our number 16 firing the ball past the keeper at the near post, putting the us into the lead.

Our hosts then built momentum throughout the half, however we continued to defend well, and went into the interval with a 1-0 lead. 

After the restart, Allison was dragged down on the edge of the box in the 46th minute, and the resulting free kick attempt from Shanley was blocked by the Devizes wall. Allison was once again involved, with a dipping volley parried over the bar in acrobatic fashion.

Our first change came in the 61st minute, which saw Curtis Dunn replace Owen Allison following a heavy challenge from Devizes’ Luke Lecrass. We later made a double change, with Jack Farion and Josiah McKayle coming on for Ashton Shanley and goalscorer Jensen Wakefield, a change which saw Farion’s return to competitive action following an injury sustained against Swindon Supermarine in November.

Devizes equalised in the 84th minute, after a counter attack resulted in the ball being crossed in to the edge of the box, which was placed into the right side of the net despite the efforts of a diving Tom Creed. After surviving late pressure, the scoreline remained level after 90 minutes, leaving the match’s fate in the hands of a penalty shootout. 

We were set to shoot first, with McKayle starting things off with a confident attempt fired past the keeper. Devizes converted their first penalty, before Gallazi kept our strong momentum going for us with his cooly slotted effort.

Devizes were the first to blink, when Tom Creed guessed correctly, diving to his right to make the first save of the shootout, as well as give us an early advantage. However, a miss from dunn, followed by a Devizes conversion saw the tally level at 2-2 after three penalties each.

Jack Farion stepped up to slot home from the spot on our fourth attempt, followed by another Devizes effort finding the net.

Emmanuel Adepitan successfully placed our fifth penalty kick confidently past the keeper, however a successful attempt from Devizes saw the tally reach 4-4 after each side had taken five penalties.

Stan Pagett finding the back of the net from the spot put the pressure on Devizes as we entered sudden death, however the opposition then levelled the score at 5-5.

Our skipper was up next, and Fabian Stanislas rose to the occasion with a fantastic effort to once again put the pressure on Devizes.

The pressure would tell as a Devizes miss saw the tally finish at 6-5 to the Blues, and saw us book our spot in the semi-finals of the Les Phillips Cup where we will face Ivybridge Town FC at Trowbridge Road on Saturday 28th February.

However, up next, we are in action on Saturday 21st February as we welcome Barnstaple Town FC to Trowbridge Road in the Western League Premier.