O's pay the penalty with Cup exit

9:02am Wednesday 28th November 2007

Bristol Rovers 3
Leyton Orient 3
(FA Cup Round One Replay) Bristol Rovers win 6-5 on penalties

ORIENT suffered penalty heartache after Martin Ling's nine-man O's crashed out of the FA Cup in a highly controversial night at Bristol Rovers.

Referee Gavin Ward brandished red cards at both Wayne Corden and Jabo Ibehre in an action-packed second half at the Memorial Stadium.

The visitors squandered a 2-1 lead in second half stoppage time and Paul Terry still had the chance to win it in the shootout.

Craig Hinton put the Pirates in front on two minutes, before the Londoners hit back on 28 with Adam Boyd firing home.

Then having ruled out a second Hinton goal before the break, Ward sent off Corden on 51 minutes for the slightest of contacts with Lewis Haldane.

Orient however took the lead four minutes later when Terry played in Wayne Gray to score.

But just when it looked like the O's had done enough substitute Jabo Ibehre handled Stuart Campbell's cross in the third minute of stoppage time. The striker was also given his marching orders and Rickie Lambert slotted home the penalty.

The O's re-took the lead two minutes in after a foul on Jason Demetriou by Craig Disley, allowed Boyd to score from the spot.

Ling's men held firm until nine minutes from time, when Disley headed home.

The visitors somehow held out for penalties, and when Rovers Sammy Igoe became the first to miss following seven successful conversions the game looked to be swinging back in Orient's favour.

Paul Terry's penalty was well-saved by Steve Phillips, before Adam Chambers hit the bar and Disley converted the match winning spot kick.

Reflecting on events Ling said: "While I'm clearly disappointed that we lost, I learnt an awful lot about the character and fight I have amongst my players."

Penalties: Daniels scored 0-1, Lines scored 1-1, Demetriou scored 1-2, Jacobson scored 2-2, Purches scored 2-3, Lambert scored 3-3, Melligan scored 3-4, Igoe missed 3-4, Terry missed 3-4, Hinton scored 4-4, Mkandawire scored 4-5, Pipe scored 5-5, Chambers missed 5-5, Disley scored 6-5

Orient: Morris; Purches, Mkandawire, Saah, Daniels; Corden, Chambers, Terry, Demetriou; Gray (Ibehre 78), Boyd (Melligan 113). Unused: Nelson, Oji, Palmer.