10-man Saints celebrate 'gutsy' penalty shootout victory in round four of FFA Cup

Saints headed north with only five regular first grade players and with the anticipation of facing a red-hot Hornets outfit.

However, a few minutes into the match and stand-in coach Matthew Baker recognised Saints were in a position to cause an upset.

"Everything we had heard about this Goonellabah side was that they were a top notch team, they had a few former professionals and they were just going to be nearly impossible to beat," Baker told the Argus.

"We weren't expecting to come away with a win. But after about 10-minutes, I started thinking, jeez, we are well and truly in this."

Baker's assumption was proven to be true when Saints looked to be first on the scoreboard.

Liam King sprinted past the Hornets defensive line and latched onto a through ball and fired it into the back of the net. Unfortunately, the linesman's flag was raised, ruling King to be offside.

Saints continued to apply the pressure to the hosts and after a scramble in the box, Saints' striker Griffin Ryan knocked the ball past the keeper but again the flag was raised for offside.

Following the two controversial decisions which erased them from the goal sheet, Saints once again found the back of the net but this one wasn't taken away.

Winger Kurtis Smith made a break down the right hand side, cut back onto his left foot and fired the ball towards goal. It ricocheted off the back of a Hornets defender and wrong-footed the goalkeeper and bounced in to break the deadlock after 30 minutes.

Saints remained on the front foot until the momentum swung when Lachlan Jay was shown a straight red card in another questionable decision.

Jay had slid into a tackle and collected the ball and player simultaneously and Baker believes it was a very harsh decision by the referee.

"The infringement occurred about 35 to 40 metres from goal, we had three defenders behind the ball and in that situation it just isn't a red card," Baker said. "It was a foul and a yellow maybe, but never a red - it was Lachlan's first foul of the match."

With the extra man on the field, the Hornets began to build pressure and found an equaliser.

The Hornets controlled the majority of the possession for the rest of regulation but Saints were still threatening on the counterattack.

The sides weren't able to be separated after 90-minutes and the two teams entered extra-time.

The 10-men Saints side dug deep, scrambled in defence and continued to apply pressure when they forced a turnover.

"I have never seen a side more dead on their feet but continuing to find something within them to push out an extra bit of effort," Baker said.

"Everyone was terrific. Alex Breckell, Michael Barnett and Daniel Baker were unbreakable at the back, Harry James and Ellis Jeffery had blinders and were tireless, Jamie Barnett had an absolute whale of a game. I could give everyone a wrap, it was just a gutsy effort from everyone."

With the two sides unable to find the winner in extra-time, the match was to be settled by a penalty shootout.

Kurtis Smith, Daniel Baker and Jacob Lyttle converted from the spot before Michael Barnett's attempt was saved.

The miss gave the Hornets a 4-3 edge but Saints' goalkeeper Lyttle produced a miraculous save to keep the side in contention.

Griffin Ryan then converted to level the scores.

The Hornets' next attempt hit the cross bar, the left post and bounced out, putting Saints in an opportunity to win the match.

Jackson Barnett stepped up and kept his composure to slot the ball into the back of the net.

"We all just went mental," Baker said.

"We ran out onto the field and celebrated, it was a special victory and it was an unforgettable moment."

The victory advances Kempsey into round five of the FFA Cup and they will discover their next opponent within the week.

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