Stevenage fall to Bury in FA Youth Cup after vailiant effort

Boro have had a record-breaking season getting to this stage of the competition for the third time in the club’s history as well as being undefeated in four of six league games.

The home side went 1-0 down after their slack tracking back was punished by striker Ben Thompson, who tapped in a cross from captain Joe Adams on 11 minutes.

Jorden Gibson’s side struggled to create chances against The Shakers, with their best effort being an indirect penalty that was cleared in the 30th minute.

Moments later left-back Sam Okoye was given a red card for a wild slide tackle, stopping a Bury counter-attack and forcing right-back Femi Seriki to leave the game injured.

The away side continued their well worked attacks as Adams cut inside from the right and rifled the ball into the bottom left hand corner in the 38th minute, extending their lead to 0-2.

The 10-man side regrouped and their spirited play was rewarded in the 62nd minute with ex-Norwich midfielder Dylan Switters beating his defender and slotting the ball past goalkeeper Mark Edward-Williams to make it 2-1.

Boro’s relentless attack saw them equalise nine minutes later as the Bury defence failed to clear the ball and Liam Smyth fired it into the roof of the net.

In the 103rd minute defender Theo Sackey-Mensah tucked away Switters cross but to the dismay of the home side the goal was disallowed for offside.

A minute later ex-Manchester City midfielder Callum Hulme headed home a cross from close range to give Ryan Kidd’s side the lead.

With a great desire to win the drained home side made one last push to score but the Lancashire team played substitute Cedric Ondoa through on goal who coolly skipped passed the American goalkeeper Ethan Wady and passed the ball into the net.

Speaking afterwards U18 Stevenage manager Jorden Gibson said: “I just wanted them to be brave and they were in the second half. To come back to 2-2 and take it to extra time, it shows what these boys are about.”