This week Huntsman FC were at home in front of an impressive crowd playing Haughton Grey Horse the Darlington League champions for 4 years. The game in the Heart Foundation Cup was a close battle which Grey Horse edged 3-2.
There were two changes from the side which beat Tompkins last week with Mark Percival replacing Mike Sproates and Shaun Mackintosh replacing leading scorer Jamie Herd. Anthony Brockley, Richie Whitworth and Liam Bingham all returned to the squad.
Huntsman wanted to make amends for sloppy starts and began lively although the first chance of the game fell to Grey Horse on the break forcing a one handed save from Dodds. Huntsman dictated the play with Lee Redpath and David Neale impressing in the middle of the park setting the tone of the game.
There was an early injury to Carl Bates which saw the introduction of Liam Bingham. Within minutes Huntsman took the lead through Shaun Sproates as he latched onto a through ball to finish well from the left hand side of the box.
This brought Grey Horse to life and they began growing into the game but the Huntsman back line held firm. It stayed 1-0 until 3 minutes before half time when Grey Horse countered from a Huntsman corner and the ball was crossed to the back post and a header was deflected back across goal before being tapped home by the Grey Horse centre forward.
The message at half time was to keep going and keep the belief but within minutes of the re-start they were behind – a cross ball from the left was met by the sliding centre forward from six yards out who scramble dthe ball over the line.
There was a big push from the Grey Horse to finish the game off but the Huntsman defence stayed resolute. Anthony Brockley was introduced to  get a grip of the midfield and this slowly got the Huntsman a foothold in the game again.On 70 minutes they were back level, Brockley squared the score meeting an Ollie Gell corner with an unstoppable header.
With 20 minutes left it was all to play for, but again it was Grey Horse who rallied showing their experience of winning big games and on 75 minutes they were awarded a penalty when Callum Musgrave handled in the area, but keeper Dodds was the hero diving low to his right to stop the penalty. The belief began to show that it might be their day forcing a few corners but rarely testing the opposition keeper.
The game stretched with both teams looking for a winner and it was Grey Horse who found it with another scruffy goal as the Grey Horse central midfielder managed to keep hold of the ball on the edge of the box, beating three tackles before squaring a ball into the feet of the winger who turned home from 12 yards.
Huntsman had 5 minutes to get a goal but couldn’t manage it and therefore crash out at the first stage of the competition. Lee Redpath picked up the man of the match award.
Next week Huntsman travel to Yates FC in the leagueand the next home game is against Aycliffe Sports Club in the League Cup on October 20th.