Sleaford Town progress in League Cup after winning on penalties

Town beat Coventry Sphinx 4-2 on penalties after the match had finished 2-2.

“It was a very good performance today,” said Ward. “We let them back in it in the second half but we battered away at them.

“Our football did not match what we did in the first half, but our desire was brilliant and the lads deserve plenty of credit.

“We had to make some changes today and it's a hell of a result. The lads that came in have been patient to get their minutes.

“We are keen to keep dragging the young lads through and developing them.

“We have a lot of young lads who are coming through at this level of football and its a credit to what we are doing at the club.”

Goalscorer Liam Fitton added: “The first half went really well, it was good to get the two days and on another day we could have got three or four.

“Last ten minutes of the half we dropped off and conceded but we dug in in the second half and did really well.

“We had spoken about penalties before and were confident going into the penalties.”

The Greens triumphed in the League Cup on Saturday afternoon, beating Coventry Sphinx 4-2 in a penalty shoot, following a pulsating tie that had finished 2-2 after 90 minutes.

It was the first time that Town had been victorious in a shoot-out since the 2012-13 season when they defeated Harrowby in the Senior Trophy.

And it followed two unsuccessful penalty shoot-outs already this season, with losses to both Newark & Sherwood and Brigg Town in the FA Vase and Senior Trophy respectively.

The Greens went into a two-goal lead after just 24 minutes. Goals from in-form Rushen (14 minutes) and an own goal after fantastic work and an inviting cross from Sam Wright.

Town’s dominance lasted until six minutes before the break when they were breached twice by Sphinx, handing momentum to the home side over the half-time break. No goals came in the second period with both sides hitting the post before penalties.