DUNSTABLE TOWN 2 ARLESEY TOWN 2 (Dunstable win 5-4 on penalties)
Bedfordshire Senior Cup quarter final
Dunstable are through to the semi-final of the Bedfordshire Senior Cup after a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory in which the Blues came back from the brink of spot kick defeat before Arlesey Town lost their nerve.
Jonathan Cooper and keeper Paul Taylor emerged as the heroes for a result which was sweet revenge for the South Midlands League Premier side after they lost 3-2 at Armadillo Stadium the last time these teams met.
A double from super-sub Craig Henney helped the Blues overcome the higher division visitors who at one stage were reduced to nine men.
The first half proved to be a cagey affair, with neither team taking control on a freezing night at Creasey Park.
A straight red card half an hour into the game made the visitors' task more difficult, with captain Derek Brown dismissed for elbowing Lee Roache.
The first half ended with Dunstable enjoying more of the posession without creating many chances.
Ten minutes into the second half and ten man Arlesey were ahead.
The current cup-holders went on the counter-attack with former Luton Town trialist Drewe Broughton finishing it off, sliding the ball past keeper Paul Taylor from inside the box.
It looked like Dunstable would be crashing out of the cup with only three minutes left on the clock.
However Henney came to the rescue, latching on to Nathan Frater's cross to head home the equaliser.
With the game destined for 30 additional minutes Arlesey thought they should have had a last-minute penalty, but the screams were waved away by referee Darren Flanagan.
Just eight minutes into extra-time, Dunstable went ahead for the first time in the tie when the home side were awarded a penalty for shirt-pulling. Henney dispatched it with aplomb, the 59 fans inside Creasey Park were now dreaming of the semi-finals.
Yet with just 11 minutes left the visitors snatched an equaliser when subsitute Mitchell Cole finished off a slick move.
With two minutes left Arlesey were reduced to nine men, but Dunstable did not have time to take advantage and the game entered the lottery of the penalties.
Dunstable failed to convert their first two spot kicks, with Arlesey dispatching theirs to put a firm foot in the semi-final.
However the visitors missed their next two and Dunstable scored both, putting the emotive shout-out on a knife-edge.
After a further miss each from both sides, Jonathan Cooper put his away and Arseley missed, making the midfielder and goalie Taylor the heroes in jubilant scenes at Creasey Park.
Dunstable now face a last four home tie against Leighton Town while the other semi-final will be constested between Biggleswade Town and Luton Town.
