An eventful evening at Hill Farm Lane saw Binfield and Ascot United come away from their Monday night Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division tie with a point a-piece in a 1-1 draw.
Both goals came in the first half with Ascot opening 15 the scoring on 15 minutes through a Harry Laflin penalty while Binfield levelled nine minutes later through Jemel Johnson.
There was further drama though as both sides finished with 10 men as centre backs Gary Smith and Fabian Etienne were dismissed.
Binfield and Ascot both endured disappointing weekends with defeats on the road and as Moles manager Roger Herridge said in a post match tweet, it probably wasn’t the result either side wanted after the weekend.
Probably not the result both sides wanted after the wk ends disappointments but just about a fair result in the end . Lots of points to be won & lost before the end of the season . An hour in we were v disappointed not to be ahead , last 10 happy to get draw.That’s football ⚽️🔴
— Roger Herridge (@Rog0109) January 8, 2019
Ascot boss Jamie Tompkins was slightly more philosophical about the result saying it was a mark of how far the Yellamen had come.
Expectations always change throughout a season and to say we are disappointed of an away draw to a top team goes to show how far we have come
— JT (@jamietompkins4) January 8, 2019
However, still improvements to be made and a quarter final to look forward too next Saturday.. Great shift from the boys this weekend! 💪
Herridge, in the midst of an injury crisis was able to call on a number of former players with Sean Moore making a return to the starting line up while his Bracknell Town team mate Carl Davies (dual registered) rolled back the years and linked up again with former strike partner Ian Davies.
Gallery: Full Neil Graham gallery available here
In the battle of the online predictions, neither were right. The Football in Bracknell twitter poll went for Ascot..
Haven't done a pre match poll in a little while but tonight's #hlprem tie between @Binfieldfc and @AscotUnitedFC feels like one we need to! So, thoughts ladies and gents..!
— Football in Berkshire (@fiberkshire) January 7, 2019
..while facebook went for Binfield.
Further reading: Wokingham Paper chats to Roger Herridge post match