EVESHAM United were denied a place in the Worcestershire Senior Cup final after falling to defeat at Redditch United in their semi-final on Monday night. 

Having been knocked out at the same stage last season by eventual winners and lower-level Pershore Town, Redditch were in no mood to be on the other end of another cup upset on Monday as debutant Riley O'Sullivan's double helped them progress to the final. 

O'Sullivan scored right at the end of the first-half to give The Reds a deserved lead, before the striker added a second with a composed finish after some slick build-up play in the Evesham danger-zone. 

Redditch will now have to wait to see who they will face in the final, as the quarter-final tie between Stourport Swifts and Kidderminster Harriers is still yet to be played. The winner of that will face Droitwich Spa in the semi. 

The hosts started brightly and Thomas Hewlett had a couple of early chances to open the scoring, but he couldn't convert. 

Evesham did have what turned out to be their best chance inside the opening ten minutes but Dan Griffiths was unable to convert a one-on-one situation with Redditch keeper Martin Riley.

Hewlett flicked a header onto the bar and saw another shot fly wide as Redditch continued to press for the opener. 

Evesham were doing plenty of defending but almost took a surprise lead when Will Owens' free-kick was palmed away by Riley. 

But the hosts did finally find a way to open Evesham up with the final kick of the first-half. Wing-back Calum Flanagan pulled a cross back into the Evesham box, that looped up into the air and O'Sullivan was there to rifle home from close range. 

Danny King saw an effort deflected just wide as the home side went on the hunt for a crucial second. Flannagan also saw a corner clip the top of the crossbar. 

Redditch were then scratching their heads as to how they were not 2-0 up when a trio of chances were missed in quick succession following a scramble in the Evesham box, but they would soon find the second. 

Lewis Hudson did brilliantly well down the right before a low cross was controlled and tucked into the net by O'Sullivan, who could not have had a better debut. 

Evesham struggled to create any real chances to get themselves back in the game and bow out of the cup at the semi-final stage.