Robins fight back from 2 down!
Cheltenham Town fought back from 2-0 down to beat Barnet 3-2 in the second round of the FA Youth Cup.
A brace from skipper Lewis Thompson including a 87th minute winner and a Luke Thomas goal got the robins through to the third round to take on Leicester City.
Barnet were 2-0 up with just 20 minutes left on the clock before a late Cheltenham comeback won the game.
As both teams battled against gale force winds the robins had most of the early possession, however they couldn't force an early effort at Kai McKenzie-Lyle in the Barnet goal. Their first real chance at goal came when Alex Dinsmore flicked on Lewis Thompson's cross, butt McKenzie-Lyle was there to punch clear off the line.
Minutes later and against the run of play Barnet found themselves in front. Ephron Mason-Clark was left unmarked in the box and curled an effort round Bojan Tetek in to the bottom corner of the Cheltenham goal.
With the conditions hampering both teams, there wasn't much pretty football on display in the opening 20 minutes.
On the 25th minute Cheltenham could have been on terms but for a last ditch block. After a goal mouth scramble the ball fell to Karnell Chambers, but his shot at goal was deflected away by Jack Taylor deep in the Barnet box.
Cheltenham's best chance of the half came in the 32nd minute, a marauding run from Cameron Pring down the left hand side preceded a whipped in cross to Luke Thomas, but the attacker headed it inches over the bar.
Barnet's Nana Kyei could have had the bees two up but his dangerous looking shot from the right went across the face of goal. Darnell Smith again could have stretched their lead but his low curled shot went wide.
At the break, and in tough conditions, Cheltenham looked a completely different side to the won that saw off Swindon 5-0, the visitors rightly had their lead and were unlucky not to be further in front.
The robins started on the front foot in the second half, after a dangerous run from Luke Thomas, the ball was knocked to Lewis Thompson who went to place it into the top left corner but it went just over the Barnet goal.
Minutes later and Barnet, again, should have been in front. After a good spell of play from Mason-Clark, he squared the ball to Nana Kyei from close range but he sent the ball wide of Bojan Tetek's goal.
Mason-Clark looked like Barnet's most dangerous player in the game, especially when his 20 yard looping shot kissed the bar.
In the 67th minute Barnet eventually made it two after the almightiest of goal mouth scrambles. With comfortably a dozen players in the six yard box the ball eventually fell to Matthew Stevens who sent it past Bojan Tetek, whose vision must have been obscured by the amount of bodies in the box.
But two minutes later, the robins managed to grab one back. After a good run down the right from Luke Thomas, the ball eventually fell to Lewis Thompson in the box who finished well from a tight angle in the box to cut Barnet's advantage to one goal.
Alex Dinsmore could have had the robins level but his 25 yard shot was dealt with comfortably by McKenzie-Lyle in the Barnet goal.
On the 80th minute, Luke Thomas got the robins level. He beat the offside trap perfectly, latched onto a long ball rounded Kai McKenzie-Lyle and finished into an open goal from close range.
With minutes left, Lewis Thompson grabbed his second of the game and put the robins ahead for the first time in the game. Luke Thomas played in a good ball to Thompson on the right side of the box and he fired it coolly past McKenzie-Lyle to make it 3-2 to the robins.
The robins dealt with a late Barnet onslaught and managed to see out the game. They now travel to the east midlands take on Leicester City away in the third round of the cup.
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Cheltenham Town: Tetek, Lymn, Pring, McCarthy (Nutting 70'), Bower, Cordell, Chambers (Hance 68'), Mendes, Dinsmore, Thompson (C), L. Thomas
Subs: Clayton, J. Thomas, Ellicott
Barnet: McKenzie-Lyle, Odoffin, Day, Coker, Abbey, Smith, Cheema (Bowens 75'), Taylor, Stevens, Kyei, Mason-Clark
Subs: Vincent, Leong, Gyimah, Busby
Referee: Mr M Howes