
A Nic Evangelinos opener wasn't enough as the Dollies are beaten on penalties against Longridge Town.
On what can only be described as a baltic night at the Giant Axe, Lancaster City welcomed Longridge Town with both sides looking to progress to the semi final of the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy.
The opening moments were promising from both teams, however it was Lancaster who were closest to striking early as after a brilliant piece of work from the City forward line, it allowed a cross to be flashed across the face of goal. However a superb block from Mitchell Marshall prevented the opener.
Lancaster continued their early onslaught of chances, however a brilliant save only moments later from Longridge goalkeeper Keir Barry denied Brayden Shaw from finding the bottom corner.
On the 10 minute mark, the visitors found themselves on the counter attack after some good defending and had a sight on goal. But a crucial block from Ed Ikpakwu kept the scoreline at 0-0.
Nathan Caine was a real threat for the Town defence and his effort only minutes later just dragged wide of the goal as both teams continued hunting the opener at the Giant Axe.
As the first half went on, the game got more scrappy. Two yellow cards were shown in the matter of minutes to City players, Aidan Dowling and Ed Ikpakwu and from there, Longridge really took charge of this tie and Lancaster looked troubled. Things were looking worrying for the Dollies.
Lancaster were struggling to maintain the surge of attacks and spells of possession from the away side and after chances from Liam Atkinson and Morgan Homson-Smith, Lancaster were living dangerously. But the back three for the Dollies were alert and were really keeping City in the tie.
But after consuming all the pressure, just before halftime, the hosts found themselves on the attack. Marcus Cusani drove at the Town defence and found the angle to take the shot on, but a great effort would be met by another great save by Keir Barry just before the referee blew for halftime.
With the scoreline at 0-0 during the interval, neither side felt comfortable. Both having great chances run away from them, it was still all to play for in the LFA Challenge Trophy quarter final fixture.
A bright start by the Dollies was met by an opening goal through Nic Evangelinos. A Brayden Shaw delivery was tipped onto the bar by a helpless Keir Barry as the striker tapped home for the opener.
City continued their strong start and just after the hour mark, the hosts had a corner. It was another splendid delivery by Brayden Shaw who found the head of Nic Evangelinos who cannoned his effort onto the bar and Longridge avoided going two goals behind and was given a lifeline in the tie.
But the visitors gave City a remainder that they were still in the game as substitute Jack Anderton saw his effort saved by Aidan Dowling and the follow up from Liam Atkinson was brilliantly kept out once more by the Lancaster City shot stopper to keep Lancaster in front with just under 20 minutes to go.
But Brayden Shaw almost sealed a semi final spot for City with an outrageous effort from long range. But another huge save from Keir Barry meant Longridge maintained their one goal deficit.
Yet again, Lancaster had a chance to see off Town through substitute Josh Abbott. The forward did brilliantly to win the ball off the Longridge defender and had a one on one opportunity with the in-form Keir Barry. But Abbott fired wide to give Longridge another lifeline and squander yet another chance.
Now into stoppage time, all Lancaster had to do was hold on and prevent any opportunities. But Dylan Moonan brought down a Longridge player in the penalty with only seconds left. Liam Atkinson stepped up and distributed the penalty expertly in what would be the final kick of regular time.
A shock to the system for the Dollies but no time to dwell on the heartache. Lancaster and Longridge players had to put their best foot forward to determine who will progress to the semi-finals.
First up was Sam Bailey who calmly slotted home to give Lancaster the perfect start in the shootout. But that was followed by Liam Atkinson who scored once again for the visitors to level it at 1-1.
Christian Sloan made no mistake in finding the back of the net to regain the advantage. But it didn’t last long as Luke Smith followed his teammate in finding the bottom corner to level things once more.
However, Dom Lawson missed his penalty as the tame effort was saved by Keir Barry to give Longridge the advantage in the shootout. But Finley Devenney strikes the woodwork to keep it 2-2.
But despite his great performance, a Brayden Shaw penalty was saved by Keir Barry to give Town a chance to take the lead once more. That opportunity was taken after Ryan Mclean slotted home.
Despite Lewis Mansell scoring his spot kick. Leighton Hewitt scored to knock out Lancaster City from the LFA Challenge Trophy, which saw Longridge Town progress into the next round.
Up next for the Dollies is Hebburn Town this Saturday (3pm kick off) in the Northern Premier League as they look to get back to winning ways against the playoff contenders.