Great Wakering Rovers booked their place in the fourth round of the BBC Essex Senior Cup after defeating Takeley 5-4 on penalties on Tuesday night.

Harry Talbot headed in seven minutes from time to take the tie to penalties after Takeley took the lead midway through the second half via an own goal.

Harry Talbot, Ben Search, Harrison Topliss, Jack Dickinson and Kingdom Dawson went up and dispatched their spot kicks to ensure their name was in the draw of the fourth round.

Despite the disappointing defeat on the FA Vase on Saturday, Rovers were boosted with the new signings of Luke Hirst and Dom Locke. They made two changes with Hirst and Locke replacing James White and Taylor Legg.

Rovers have never made it past the third round of this competition since 2010.

Kickoff:

Takeley started off on the front foot for the majority of the half.

Inside the first twenty minutes, George Martin was called into action when Takeley broke on the counter attack as the ball was fed down the right and George Pullen sent a cross into the box that Martin connected well to clear the ball away.

Martin was once again called upon when he had to punch away another cross from Pullen, the ball was cleared just outside the box as it fell to Charlie Allum but his effort was wide to the right. He then did well three minutes later when a long throw into the box was cleared twenty yards away and Allum struck a good low effort which took two deflections on the way through but Martin got low to his right to hold onto the shot.

Rovers were forced into an early change on twenty minutes when Dominic Locke received a nasty cut on his shin following a 50/50 challenge and had to make way for Max Gnandi.

Despite the hosts with the majority of the play, Rovers were doing well to hold their ground thanks to the organised defence at the back which was being well organised by Harrison Topliss and Mitchell Arthur.

New signing Luke Hirst was making a good nuisance of himself in the final third as he worked tirelessly off the ball to chase after possession and hold up play to keep possession.

Rovers did have a few chances late on but lacked that final effort at goal.

The notable chance was just after the half hour mark when Bradley Bennett sent Ben Search running down the right with a good through ball and fed Jack Dickinson inside the box but his effort low effort was straight at Takeley custodian Jarvis Monk.

Halftime: Takeley 0-0 Rovers

Rovers came out in much better fashion in the second half and played some pretty attacking football, the only thing missing was that missing finish.

With almost an hour gone, Mitchell Arthur went into the referees book after he hauled down a played to delay an attack.

With twenty five minutes of play left, Rovers had a counter attack and Harrison Topliss sent Ben Search running down the middle at the defence before he was hauled down by George Pullen twenty yards from goal. Pullen was booked for the foul and the free kick came to nothing as Search's set piece was cleared away.

Rovers won a corner on the right but from the resulting throw, Takeley took the lead.

A ball from the back was played out wide to the right and Jamal Obeng ran down the wing and played in a low cross into the box which deflected into the top corner from Ben Search.

Despite the set back, Rovers were resilient and worked tirelessly off the ball in an attempt to get back in the game.

Rovers looked threatening on the counter attack, with Bradley Bennett and Harry Talbot being the main source of playmaking.

Luke Hirst went close with twenty minutes to go when Talbot tricked his way past two players and crossed in from the byline to Hirst who managed to get his shot off but his effort was blocked.

With seven minutes to go, Rovers prevailed and netted the equaliser.

Rovers were on the counter, Jack Dickinson fed the ball out left to Kingdom Dawson who got his head up and curled in a sublime cross to the back post to Harry Talbot who headed the ball into the bottom corner past the outstretched arms of Monk to level the tie.

The tie would then had to be settled via a penalty shootout.

Harry Talbot was up first for the Rovers and he smashed his penalty into the bottom right. Charlie Allum was up Takeley and he blasted his spot kick over the bar. Ben Search then went up next and he rifled the ball into the top left corner to extend the Rovers lead.

Takeley were up next and the spot kick was drilled into the bottom left corner. Harrison Topliss was next for the third and he smashed his penalty down the middle. Takeley then dispatched theirs by sending their spot kick into the right corner and Jack Dickinson kept Rovers ahead by placing his spot kick into the bottom left corner to make it one away from winning the tie. The pressure was on for Takeley and they managed to net their fourth.

Kingdom Dawson went up for the Rovers decider and he converted his penalty by smashing his penalty into the top left to book the Rovers place in the fourth round of the Essex Senior Cup.

Fulltime: Takeley 1-1 Rovers (Rovers win 5-4 on penalties)

A great way to respond from Saturday against a team a level above.

Rovers will find out who their opponents will be in the fourth round on Friday night but they will have to turn their attention back to league action this Saturday as they host playoff contenders Woodford Town.

Great Wakering Rovers FC

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