Redbridge travelled to Spartan Midlands side Cockfosters and an entertaining match with 6 goals saw the Motormen progress through to the next round where they will face Ryman Premier side Kingstonian.

Surprisingly there was a better than expected crowd in attendance to witness the match especially as England’s World Cup qualifier was live on TV along with the fact it was a cold evening. For those in attendance they witnessed an enjoyable game of football by both sides who tried to get the ball down and play.

The game came to live after just four minutes when the home side took the lead when Redbridge failed to clear the ball and a weak header beat the defender and goalkeeper Dave McCartney. It was not the ideal start for the Redbridge keeper who was starting for the first time this season after recently returning from injury.

Moments later and it could have been two when the same player was put through but a last ditch tackle prevented what looked like a goal. That miss proved costly as Redbridge went up the other end and equalised when Emiel Aiken received the ball and found the space to turn and shoot low past the keeper.

Two minutes later however and Cockfosters re-established the lead when their tricky winger received the ball beat his defender and dragged McCartney out wide before taking going past him and rolling the ball into the empty net via the post.

3 goals and all this in just the first 9 minutes, who was even thinking of Wembley!!

The game then edged back and forth with both sides having chances with Cockfosters number seven in particular looking extremely dangerous with his pace. Meanwhile for Redbridge Ben Bradbury was also looking lively out wide and supplying lots of dangerous crosses.

It was Daniel Charge who had the best chance for the away side as he was put through from a lovely pass but had maybe too much time as he tried to pick his spot but the keeper was equal to it. The ball bounced around the penalty area with shots being fired at the goal but the home defenders stood firm and eventually were able to clear the danger.

On 35 minutes Charge this time did get his chance as he superbly controlled a cross with one foot before lashing an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net with the other giving the keeper no chance. It was the inform striker’s 8th goal of the campaign.

As the half neared its end Redbridge had further chances to extend their lead through Tyron Thomas and Eljay Worrell but it was again Charge who grabbed the 3rd goal. This time however it was all to do with the peach of a ball in from Bradbury and the striker simply got beyond his marked and tapped the ball home.

The 2nd half started as the 1st had ended and Daniel Tenkorang scored his first competitive goal for the club as he latched onto a through ball, outmuscled his marked and superbly placed the ball home.

The rest of the half failed to live up to the excitement of the previous 45 minutes but Cockfosters huffed and puffed and in all honesty deserved at least another goal for their efforts but the away side were professional to the end and managed to secure the win.

Report by Adam Silver