‘Tired’ Worksop Town’ see off St Ives to progress in FA Trophy

In a game that saw a man from both sides sent off, goals from Vaughan Redford and Jacob Gratton saw the Tigers through to a home clash with FC United of Manchester.

Manager Craig Parry admitted that his players struggled with the pace of the St Ives game.

"I thought it was a tired performance today, and I don’t think we were good at all, but I think we’ve got to understand that they are human beings and there’s only so much they can do,” he said.

“It’s hard when you play 120 minutes last week and you’re in at four or five in the morning and up for work.

"We have tried to give them as much rest as possible, but today we looked lethargic, and that’s not down to a lack of effort, it’s due to tiredness.

“It was one game too many in the grand scheme of what happened last week.

"We tried to freshen things up in certain positions to try to switch things up and bring energy into the side, but it didn’t work.”

The Tigers got off to a shaky start as St Ives striker Johnson Gyami appeared to break through on goal within the first two minutes, prompting Worksop captain Hamza Bencherif to pull him down, earning an early yellow card.

Worksop responded quickly, and within six minutes, their first chance came from a Terry Hawkridge corner that found Liam Hughes in the box.

Hughes directed a powerful header on target, but Dan Wilks pulled off a good save to keep the score level.

Despite the Tigers' pressure, it was St Ives who struck first in the 20th minute.

Amaru Kaunda cut inside onto his right foot and curled a brilliant shot into the top left corner, giving the Saints the lead.

But Worksop reacted well with Luke Hall delivering several dangerous crosses aimed at Hughes, but St Ives’ defence held firm, clearing each one.

Things seemed to worsen for Worksop when Hughes received two yellow cards in quick succession for dissent, leaving the Tigers a man down. However, just after the hour mark, substitute Jordan Burrow won a penalty after being fouled by Aaron Smith, who was also shown a second yellow, reducing both sides to 10 men.

Vaughan Redford stepped up and coolly slotted the penalty into the bottom left corner, levelling the score at 1-1.

With both teams down to 10 players, Worksop pushed for a winner and found it in the 70th minute when Gratton smashed his shot into the roof of the net.