On a bitterly cold morning, the Ravens entertained Leafield Panthers in the 3rd round of the Open Cup.

The pitch was very heavy due to overnight rain and the Ravens were having to play against not only Leafield but the driving sleet showers and cold snap in the air.

It was Leafield that started the brighter of the 2 teams, testing the defence as early as the second minute. The Ravens however were unlucky not to have gone 1-0 up after 4 minutes when Robert put the ball in the back of the net, but the goal was ruled out. Jonathan had worked hard on the far right hand side and dragged the ball back to Robert who fired past the Leafield keeper but the ball was judged to have gone over the line for a goal-kick from Jonathan's original cross. Lenie was unlucky, 2 minutes later when clever play from Robert found Lenie unmarked on the edge of the box, but his shot was well saved by the opposition keeper.

The pitch was cutting up quite badly in midfield, forcing the Ravens midfield of Joshua, Lenie and Robert to work extra hard. They could not prevent Leafield drawing first blood though wwith a well taken goal. From a throw-in, the ball went over the defenders heads and found the Leafield midfielder, who shot low into the far hand side of the net past Ryan.

The Ravens had chance to equalise  straight after the Leafield goal. Lenie's corner found Joshua on the edge of the box who's shot was heading for the corner of the net but took a deflection on it's way and went out for a corner. Three further corners from the Ravens produced little and were dealt with by Leafield without too many problems.

Leafield, coming forward more as the game progressed, went further ahead from a corner. A short pass found a Leafield player unmarked hit a superb shot into the back of the net leaving Keeper Ryan no chance. This goal shook Olton into life and with Robert and Joshua pushing on from midfield to help Jonathan, they almost got a goal back. A ball forward from Lenie was cleared by the Leafield defence but only as far as Joshua who tee'd up and fired a great shot which went only inches over the bar. The pressure from Ravens was short lived though as Leafield went 3-0 up after 14 minutes. The same player who scored the second found himself on the edge of the box and hit an unstoppable shot high into the net.

The scoreline seemed a little unfair as the Ravens had worked so hard during the first half and they were rewarded after 16 minutes with a goal. Ashley's pass found Jonathan just outside the box. Seeing the keeper by the near post, he bent a beautiful shot past the Leafield Keeper to make it 3-1.

Half time 3-1 to Leafield Panthers.

With the rain still coming down, the Ravens needed to get an early goal to get back into the game but could have just as easily gone 4-1 down when Leafield hit the post. But the Ravens were now starting to pass better and get more shots in on goal. A corner from Lenie fell to Robert who's shot just went wide of the upright. Motivated by this extra pressure, the Ravens found that early goal after 6 minutes of the second half. Joshua passed to Robert on the wing, his pass back found lenie, virtually on the half way line, who's shot thundered into the net.

With their tails up, Ravens were winning the loose balls and began to put a lot of pressure on the Leafield Defence. All their efforts were rewarded from a corner after 13 minutes. Lenie took a short corner to Jonathan. He passed back to Lenie who, with his path blocked by 2 Leafield defenders, passed inside to Jonathan who hit another superb shot and into the net. 3-3 and all to play for.

With only a minute to go, an incredible goalmouth scramble should have saw the Ravens into the next round. Ashley found himself unmarked and hit a great shot past the Leafield goalie but saw his shot come back off the post. The rebound was then cleared off the line and with the ball bobbling about 2 further shots were fired in but Leafield managed to scramble the ball to safety. The full time whistle went leaving the game to go into the extra time 'golden goal' rule where the first team to score wins.

From the kick off it was clear to see that Olton wanted this game wrapped up and without too much asking, Jonathan moved forwards towards the Leafield goal. With the defence approaching he unleashed a terrific shot which flew into the net giving the Olton Ravens the win that they fully deserved from their second half performance.

After being 3-0 down at one stage in the game, and having battled against terrible weather conditions, the Ravens walked off with their heads held high knowing they had progressed to the next round of the Open Cup.

Man of the Match: Jonathan