FA Umbro Trophy Second Round Replay

Redditch United 3 (1) Stocksbridge Park Steels 4 (3)

THE Valley Stadium staged one of the most incident-packed cup ties in Redditch United's history last night, with seven goals, two sendings off, eight bookings and Reds manager Rob Smith dismissed from the dugout.

The game was just six minutes old when it exploded into life as Redditch midfielder Mark Dearlove saw red after elbowing Steels defender Neil Lacy in the face, as the two sides waited for a free kick.

Lacy exacted revenge 13 minutes later, stabbing the ball home after Reds keeper Dave Adey dropped the ball from a free kick.

Adey was again at fault on 27 minutes when he came to collect a free kick, but totally missed the ball allowing Lacy to score with an easy header.

The usually reliable Adey seemed to have thrown the game away when two minutes before the break he gifted Steels a third allowing Gary Hurlstone to shoot into an empty net after tripping over the ball.

Redditch looked dead and buried, but Jamie Hart gave the home side hope firing in from 15-yards after substitute Paul Danks had flicked on Ross Knight's long ball.

This lifted 10-men Redditch, who further reduced the arrears on 67 minutes when Richard Field's cross was met by Knight, who headed it under the despairing Andy Carney as he allowed it to squirm under his body.

But seconds later Field was sent off for a second bookable offence, when the referee adjudged a perfectly good tackle to have been foul.

Reduced to nine men, Reds plugged away but were caught napping when Hurlstone scored his second following a quickly taken free kick.

Five minutes from time Danks pulled a goal back, but time ran out to for Reds to take the tie into extra time.

Redditch: Adey, Knight, M Smith (Burke 87), Molloy, Mulders (Danks 34), Field, Dearlove, Cross, Hart, Williams. Subs unused: Randall, Evans, Shiels.

Sent off: Dearlove, Field

Booked: Knight, Manton, Cross

Man of the match: Manton