UNDERWOOD paid the penalty for not pressing home their advantage against Gwent County League Division 2 strugglers Coed Eva on Saturday.

Leading 2-0 through early goals by James McManus and Tom Turner, they allowed the visitors back into the game with a goal just after half time by Damien Brean.

McManus then scored a fine goal to restore the two-goal advantage but then injuries to James May and Matthew Seabourne affected the balance of the side.

Turner, whose speedy runs had caused concern in Coed Eva's defence, was brought back to shore up the defence and the visitors pressed further forward.

They cut the deficit to one goal when the tall striker Brean scored his second and, in an all-out assault on the home goal, Scott Diamond poked the ball home after a goalmouth scramble to force extra time.

Neither side was able to score the vital breakthrough in the extra half-hour so the dreaded penalty shoot-out was used to decide the winner, Coed Eva winning 4-3 on spot-kicks.

Manager Sean Johnson agreed his men paid the price for not pressing home their advantage.

"At 2-0 we let them back in," he said after the match. "We started really strongly with two fantastic, passing goals.

"At half time we felt comfortable but knew the next goal would be crucial. 

"Unfortunate injuries meant we had to shuffle the team around, which disturbed the balance of the team.

"In hindsight perhaps we tried hanging on to our lead too much in the last 15 minutes and they equalised in the dying minutes.

"I thought we were the better team in extra time but lacked quality in the final third to get that crucial goal. Losing on penalties was difficult but we will get our heads high and work hard in training this week to put a few things right

"Playing in the amateur cup has been a fantastic experience for the lads, and we have learned a lot about where we are and where we want to be and the things we have to do to fill this gap.

"We aim to win not just the league but as many cups as possible and we really thought we could have gone a step or twp further in the amateur cup."