Hamilton Parish 1

Dandy Town 2

Kevin Hurdle snatched victory for Dandy Town at the end of a dramatic FA Cup clash with Hamilton Parish at the Wellington Oval yesterday.

Hurdle, the substitute, kept his cool in a frantic finale to steer his winning shot past Nigel Burgess, the Hamilton Parish goalkeeper, and put the Cup holders safely into the quarter-finals.

The tie had seemed destined for a replay after a keenly disputed goal from Brandon Minors, the Town captain, was cancelled out by an equally controversial penalty from Ijahmon Mallory, the home captain.

But with seconds remaining Hurdle stretched out a long leg to latch onto a loose ball and poke towards the bottom corner; Burgess got a hand on it but could only watch it creep agonisingly over the line.

It was a rare home defeat for Parish, the surprise Premier Division leaders, who have made the Oval their fortress this season. After a relatively quiet first 45 minutes in rainy and windy conditions, Parish produced a stirring second-half performance to take the game to Town, the four-times FA Cup winners and current league champions.

Zenawi Bowen, Macquille Walker and Casey Castle all had chances, but were denied by a combination of last-ditch defending and the solid Mikkail Crockwell in the Town goal.

Then, almost from nowhere, the visiting side opened the scoring in the 73rd minute from a free kick that enraged the home side. Parish thought they were awarded a throw-in deep in their own half, only for Leroy Wilson, the referee, to rule a home defender had fouled as he shielded the ball over the touchline.

Korvan Tucker’s resulting free kick was met by a thumping header by Minors, who timed his run to perfection and gave Burgess no chance.

Four minutes later it was Town’s turn to be angry as Wilson decided Bowen had been fouled in the penalty area.

The tall defender, who caused problems with several marauding runs, ploughed through a number of challenges before cutting the ball back into the goalmouth. Town cleared the danger and were stunned when Wilson pointed to the spot, with their bench claiming the referee was trying to even the scores after the earlier controversy. Mallory made no mistake as he fired the penalty into the bottom corner.

By now the tempo was fast and furious, and both sides committed men to attack. Jahnazae Swan, on as a substitute, was Town’s most threatening outlet with his darting runs down the left wing, while Parish’s Castle and Chris Caisey were a constant menace with their non-stop running.

For all the youthful pace on display, though, it was Hurdle, the 38-year-old, who showed the timeless knack of being in the right place at the right time to win it at the death.

Jomar Wilkinson, the Dandy Town coach, said: “Hurdle keeps doing a job for Dandy Town. Every time I bring him on, he scores, or does something to affect the game in a positive way.

“That was very, very hard work. Hamilton Parish did a good job in the second half, putting pressure on our defence, but we stuck at it and got the reward.”

Keishon Smith, the Parish coach, complained about the free kick for Town’s opening goal: “Shielding the ball is not a foul. It’s happening all game, and then the referee decides this time he’s going to give a free kick?

“These referees are getting paid to do a job, and they need to do their job right.”