BHC Football Academy saw their cup dreams come to an end as they were denied a place in the final four by a strong Huntingdon side.
The visitors certainly had the better of the opening exchanges and piled on the pressure as the Academy struggled to find their feet. After just 12 minutes Huntingdon had taken the lead, tucking the ball home from close range following a parry from Academy goalkeeper Tom Johnson. Conceding early on seemed to spur the home side into action and when Haroun Ayeni netted an equaliser less than 5 minutes later, the game developed into a full-blooded cup-tie. It was the Academy who finished the stronger of the two teams at the half-time interval and will be ruing the fact they failed to turn possession into goals. Huntingdon, on the other hand, must have been relieved to go find themselves level at the break.
In the second half, the Academy came out seemingly determined to make something happen and for a while appeared to be the stronger side. It was Huntingdon however who took the initiative, and the lead, after a well-worked counter-attacking move. This knocked some of the stuffing out of the home team and despite still having a good 30 minutes of time remaining belief seemed to waver. Huntingdon used this to their advantage and soon found themselves further in front following some dire defensive work at a corner. With time running out the Academy changed shape and piled players forward in search of a way back into the game. The consolation goal came from the penalty spot during the 85th minute after the referee spotted a handball in the opposition box. This made for a tense final few minutes but it was Huntingdon who hung on to book a place in the semi-finals and end BHC Football Academy’s cup dreams for this season.