MAGPIES 1

Robinson 62

HENDON 0

A BRILLIANT goal on debut by Andy Robinson sent the Magpies through to the final qualifying round of the FA Cup at the Avenue this afternoon.

Ex-Southampton midfielder Robinson, who only joined Dorchester on Thursday, produced a moment of magic on 62 minutes to win the tie for his new club.

Robinson had gone straight into the Dorchester side in one of four changes boss Graham Kemp made to the team that started the midweek draw with Bideford.

Chris Dillon and Charlie Davis returned after missing the match on Tuesday, while Alex Godfrey was promoted from the bench.

Jason Brookes lost his place in the side and was among the substitutes, as skipper Nathan Walker, Kyle Critchell, Micky Hubbard, Matt Oldring and Ryan Murray were all either cup-tied or unavailable.

The captain’s armband went to Jake Smeeton and he was involved in the first incident of the afternoon just two minutes in.

The visitors’ Aaron Morgan went down in the box under a challenge from Smeeton but there was no penalty given.

Morgan was certainly looking to make the most of the situation and referee Adam Ricketts was right to wave away the appeals for a spot-kick.

After Hendon defender Elliott Brathwaite had headed wide from a corner, Dorchester’s Dan Smith was responsible for the first effort of the tie that was on target – his shot was easily gathered by Ben McNamara.

Meanwhile, the game's first booking went to Hendon’s Sam Murphy on 14 minutes after he brought down Robinson as the Magpies’ man looked to break from his own half.

With a quarter of the tie gone the Magpies had already played a good deal better than they did for 88 minutes against Bideford.

There was a real effort to play football as well as doing the basics right, with Godfrey, Robinson, Smith, Ben Joyce and Nick Crittenden putting some nice pieces of play together.

Despite it being a highly competitive encounter, there was a real lack of scoring chances in the first half.

The hosts had appeals for a penalty turned down by the referee in the 37th minute when Smith went down in the Hendon box and, soon after, Brathwaite had the visitors’ first real attempt on goal with a header that found the hands of Alan Walker-Harris.

Just before the break Smeeton had to make a timely intervention to clear a Chris Seeby header that could have troubled Walker-Harris.

But it was the hosts that nearly made the breakthrough in first-half injury time.

McNamara made a real pig’s ear of Robinson’s long-range free-kick and the keeper was lucky that Godfrey’s follow-up header bounced off the top of the crossbar and went over.

A spell of pressure from the away side early in the second half saw Hendon goal machine Leon Smith find the target with a low drive, though Walker-Harris was equal to it.

In fairness to the Magpies’ defence, they were keeping Smith, who was chasing a club record of scoring in nine successive games, relatively quiet.

He and strike partner Morgan had the edge in terms of physical presence but they weren’t being allowed time and space to cause many problems.

Then, on 62 minutes, the deadlock was finally broken.

Collecting the ball some 20 yards from the Hendon goal, Robinson turned down a chance to shoot with his left foot, switching instead to his right before finding the corner of the net with a sublime strike.

Dan Smith went close to doubling the lead courtesy of a driven effort that flew just past a post.

His Hendon namesake Leon must have thought he was going to level things up when he rounded Walker-Harris and saw the goal in front of him.

However, he slipped at the crucial moment and Smeeton was able to clear the danger.

A flurry of substitutions and yellow cards then ensued, with Tony Rolls and Lewis Brown on for the hosts, and Kezie Ibe, Scott Cousins and Peter Dean introduced by the visitors.

In the midst of all that, Brathwaite and Kevin Maclaren were cautioned, the latter’s late challenge on Charlie Davis incensing Magpies’ boss Kemp so much that he made his way on to the pitch to voice his disapproval.

Leon Smith had several opportunities to grab his record-breaking goal but the ball never quite fell for him and Dorchester saw out the closing stages to celebrate another cup win.

Magpies: Walker-Harris, Lanahan (Rolls 75), Kaye, Smeeton, Dillon, Robinson, Davis, Crittenden (Brookes 90+1), Joyce, Godfrey (Brown 80), Smith. Subs not used: Parrett, Walters, Hanger, Murphy.

Hendon: McNamara, Seeby, Sprague, Flegg, Brathwaite, Maclaren (Dean, 83), Murphy, O’Leary, Smith, Morgan (Taggart 78), Da Costa (Ibe 69). Subs not used: Diedhiou, Hazlett, Fisher, Cousins.

Bookings: Magpies – None

Hendon – Murphy (foul, 14), Brathwaite (foul, 76), Maclaren (foul, 80)

Referee: Adam Ricketts (Bristol)

Attendance: 510