Redbridge made the journey up the M11 for the second time this week however this time the pitch survived the wind and rain and the game was good to go ahead.

Returning to the Redbridge squad were Ibrahim Kehinde and Timothy Ogunrinde who were back after recent spells with step four opposition and they both started on the bench.

Barely a minute on the clock and Redbridge almost took an early lead, Tony Martin found captain James Barlow in space and although the angle was against him he managed to get a shot in on target which required clearing from the Stansted back line.

Stansted then came forward as a fierce shot came in from distance which was not far wide as Michael Corderoy in the Redbridge goal was left stranded to the spot before center back John Clarke tried his luck with a curling effort which was off target.

The early moments showed that this was going to be an open game and thus it was proving as now Redbridge went back up the other end as Martin fired a shot just wide after he had done well to create space for himself.

The home side then had a spell of dominance , a through pass found the run of Connor Hammond but a heavy first touch saw defender Jack Roult to get back and make a timely challenge. A similar through ball again split the away back line this time looking for Michael Mignot but the ball never fell kindly for him allowing Redbridge defenders to clear the danger, shortly after Ashaan Siddik found the ball at his feet in a good position, he showed good composure to turn inside a defender but in doing so gave Corderoy the chance to come off his line and gather.

Redbridge now had their opportunity to come forward, much of which seemed to come down the left flank through the energetic running of full back Jack Roult, one chance almost fell for Barlow in a promising area but his touch deserted him allowing Jarvis Monk in goal to collect which proved to be the final action of an entertaining first period.

Just as with the first half an early chance fell the way of the Motormen , Barlow brought the ball forward before squaring into the path of Martin but he went for power rather than accuracy and the ball unfortunately ended up in the car park rather than the goal.

Redbridge however had started the half brightly looking to come forward , Jake Brocklebank seeing his shot blocked by the Stansted defence which took the sting out of it and ended up falling comfortable into the gloves of Monk before the keeper had to be alert to stop a fierce drive to the near post from Barlow.

Stansted then had their first real attack of the half as Mignot again found himself in plenty of space bearing down on goal however only succeeded in finding the side netting.

Back at the other end and from a corner Martin found himself unmarked in the box but was only able to head wide of the upright before there were calls at the other end for a red card after a misplaced back pass but Redbridge in trouble resulting in Dean Hall bringing his man down however the refereed deemed a yellow card to be the punishment. The resulting free kick taken by Bill Coyne dipped just the wrong side of the crossbar.

The away side turned to the bench with all three substitutes now on the pitch , one of those in Ogunrinde trying his luck straight away curling wide.

The big chance of the came then followed for Stansted , a ball up field found the run of Stansted substitute Brad Russell and with Corderoy out of his goal the ball was squared into the path of Hammond who seemed certain to score but his shot lacked power allowing Bradley Bennett back just in time to clear the ball away for a corner.

There was still time for a late surge from the home side as Corderoy twice denied fellow substitute Michael Salako with two good saves before the whistle blew signaling the game would go straight into a penalty shoot-out.

Redbridge opened the scoring before Corderoy made a good stop , subsequent penalties were then scored by both sides before the returning Ogunrinde saw his effort saved meaning it was sudden death and after Joe Elliott’s powerful effort was palmed away by Monk Stansted scored their final penalty to won the tie 5-4.

report by Adam Silver