Rob Gammons stepped out into the dugout for the first time at Ashton's, with his side producing a performance to be proud of in the ninety, that culminated with a victory on penalties as we progressed to the Third Round of the Errington Challenge Cup.

The Woods started off as the better of the two sides, with Jibran Ahmed causing plenty of issues down the left hand side in the early stages of the game. He created chances for Yemi Adelani and Ryan Hervel - making his first start for the Club - but the pair were unable to direct their efforts on target. Meanwhile, Malaki Toussaint’s corners were causing all sorts of problems for the Harwich defence, with Luke Steele firing a free header over the bar before Miles Mitchell-Nelson saw his goal dubiously ruled out for a foul in the build up, meaning the two sides would head into the break on level terms.

Despite beginning the second half in a good fashion, it was The Shrimpers who raced into the lead on the 50-minute mark, thanks to a world strike from Louie Bloom, who curled past Martin Arnauchkov, picking out the top corner in the process. This, however, did not deter Gammons’ side from keeping up their relentless pressure. Ahmed, Adelani and substitute Fenton Kehinde all had opportunities to tap home into an empty net but struggled to make adequate connection with the ball as it came across the face of goal, but The Woods kept knocking on the door. Captain Sam Owusu believed he had been brought down, but the man in the middle waved the appeals away, before the equaliser eventually came. An Emmanuel Okunja corner caused a scramble in the box, with Kahlil Kirwan-Meade’s eventual shot being instinctively flicked into the bottom corner by his centre-back partner Mike Agboola with eleven minutes remaining.

Despite continuing the pressure, the game eventually petered out, and we headed for penalties. Adelani, Marko Protic, Okunja and Christou all scored, whilst a save from Martin Arnauchkov and a missed visitors penalty saw us progress with a 4-1 shootout win.

Starting XI: Arnauchkov (GK); Steele (Okunja - 71’), Kirwan-Meade, M. Agboola, Mitchell-Nelson (Weekes - 81’); Owusu (C), Toussaint (Christou - 63’), Hervel (Kehinde - 81’); Adelani, Sotoyinbo (Protic - 50’), Ahmed

Unused substitutes: N/A