Ross hits late winner to see Ardley into next round

Ardley will host Highworth Town later this month after they edged out Tuffley Rovers 3-2 in Saturday’s extra preliminary round tie with Ross bagging the late winner.

Tuffley dominated the first half but several missed chances proved costly in the end. The visitors lost keeper Chris Perks in the warm-up and outfield substitute Marcus Foxwell took over.

Elios Katsoloudi went close before Tuffley took the lead when Warren Mann’s looping header went in via the bar. Ardley lost Reece Bayliss as Tuffley started to dominate and Shane Bradley headed straight at Lee Farrow.

Adam Morris found Jackson who could only head over the bar but Ardley equalised after the restart when a corner was only cleared to the edge of the area and Katsoloudi beat Foxwell.

Matt Cruse was denied by Foxwell but on the hour mark a fine passing move down the left ended with Joel Meade crossing for Carl Tappin to slot home.

Ade Talabi saw his shot go just wide before forcing Foxwell to save well and Katsoloudi fired over from the edge of the box.

Against the run of play Rovers found an equaliser when Stanley Brown forced a mistake and the loose ball fell to Ashley Davis who fired home from ten yards.

But five minutes later Talabi used his pace to get down the right and his cross found Ross who fired home. Farrow denied Brett James and Brown’s header was cleared off the line by Luke Cray in the final minute.

Manager Paul Davis said: “We expected a tough game and that was certainly what we got. I told the players if we didn’t match Tuffley’s work rate we would be out of the FA Cup and at halftime that was exactly what was going to happen.

“In the second half we worked harder, we missed too many chances but scraped through. In cup competitions it’s not about how you do it, it’s about getting it done and we’ve done that.”