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FA Cup qualifying - Sutton Coldfield 2 Rushall Olympic 2 - Report and pictures

Rushall Olympic are in for an FA Cup first qualifying round replay after giving up the lead twice at Sutton Coldfield Town.

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Ben Lund broke the deadlock for the Pics in the first half but Jordan Nadat netted for the hosts a few moments into the second.

It appeared skipper Ashley Sammons had put Liam McDonald's charges on course for victory with a composed effort in the 70th minute. However, James Beresford made the most of some poor defending and struck in the closing stages for the Royals.

The replay is taking place at Dales Lane on Monday night (kick-off 7.45pm).

Rushall, being a tier above the hosts, had the lion's share of possession early on. Some fine work from Tyler Lyttle - son of former Albion full-back Des Lyttle - saw the ball fall at the feet of Gurjit Singh near the penalty spot but the Pics winger, somehow, blazed well over the crossbar.

Lyttle was causing lots of problems with his willingness to drive forward from right-back. He almost got on the scoresheet a few minutes after Singh's miss - a right-footed drive smacking the post.

Sutton had their moments but, in all fairness, it seemed just a matter of time until McDonald's men went ahead. They did so in the 38th minute as Lund escaped the attention of Dylan Barkers and coolly slotted home.

On the balance of play, it was a deserved advantage. Rushall got away with one on the stroke of half-time though as goalkeeper Joe Slinn's attempted clearance rebounded off Matthew Hearsey and into the side netting. The Coles Lane faithful thought it had gone in. McDonald breathed a sigh of relief.

Shortly after the restart, the Royals equalised. Omar Haughton's low corner caught the Pics backline out and Nadat capitalised - poking past Slinn. It was a sloppy goal to concede and Sutton almost got another. Jon Letford was denied by Slinn, who was very quick off his line.

A defensive mix-up presented Singh with another great opportunity to score but he lofted the ball too high from the edge of the box. A couple of moments later, Singh was hauled off and Justin Richards - with the Royals last campaign - came on in his place.

Rushall, for quite a while, were at sixes and sevens in defence. Sam Whittall lost his footing and that allowed Nadat to get on the end of a through-ball, but he ended up fluffing his lines.

Up the other end, Sammons stayed calm to put the Pics back in front. Played through by substitute Richards's cushioned header, the skipper took a touch to set himself before firing in with his left foot.

That would have been a worthy winner but the visitors continued to look shaky at the back and allowed Beresford to find the net from a few yards out, levelling the scores once again.

Wes Atkinson and Andre Landell entered the fray late on for Rushall, to no avail. At least 90 more minutes are needed to determine the winner, who will receive £6,000.

Teams:

Rushall (4-3-3): Slinn; Lyttle, Pendley, Whittall, Smikle; Maye, Sammons (c), Hawker; Waldron (Landell, 87), Lund (Atkinson, 83), Singh (Richards, 60)

Subs: Adelakan, Paisley, Ahenkorah

Attendance: 249