Heath have done very well in this competition in recent years reaching the semi-final three times in the last four years but this season won’t be one of them after home defeat to Division One Mile Oak in the 2nd Round.

One of the things that Steve Painter really wanted from his team this season was to have a settled side but things don’t always go to plan and due to availability Painter was forced to make five positional changes to the team that started the previous game.

The visitors started the game well, showed a lot of pace going forward and tested Heath keeper Pawel Szelemey early on when Jack Stenning rifled a shot into the keeper’s midriff from 20 yards. Minutes later Jamie McKenzie advanced down the right flank got behind the Heath defence and crossed the ball into the path of Jack Arnold coming in like a steam train and he powered a header from 8 yards into the net past Szelemey who had no chance.

Heath equalised from a Shaun Findlay corner in the 19th minute, 3 players went up for the ball at the far post but it was a Mile Oak defender who got the final touch steering it past his own keeper Aaron Stenning into the net. Just before the break Tiago Andrade broke away down the right flank and picked out Liam Hunter on the edge of the Mile Oak penalty area but the Heath midfielder’s first time shot lacked power and his effort was gathered comfortably by Stenning.

The visitors regained their lead 5 minutes into the restart when the impressive Remi Coates ran with the ball at his feet to the heart of the Heath defence and was brought down in the penalty area and got up to convert the resulting spot kick. Midway through the half Szelemey was forced to make an excellent point blank save to deny the Oaks a third.

But it wasn’t until the final 10 minutes that Heath finally got their act together, Piers McDermott and Scott Weller both had shots from distance that went straight at Stenning, the keeper then saved his team mate Jack Arnold some embarrassment by saving well from a misdirected header. In time added on Jamal Sultan had a shot deflected into the side netting and from the corner Heath had two penalty claims turned down in quick succession, and in the final seconds a ball played over the Mile Oak defence was met on the volley by Stuart Chester but it flew agonizingly over the crossbar.

Painter was naturally disappointed with the result but said his team didn’t deserve to go through, he said his players looked very lethargic and didn’t really test their keeper until the final minutes.

Team: Szelemey, Holvey, Bevan, Maxwell, Howard, McDermott, S.Chester, Findlay, Andrade(Nash 80), Liddell (Weller 60), Hunter (Sultan 60).