HADLEIGH'S hopes of a night out at Portman Road in April for the second successive year were dashed at the first hurdle by a hard-working Crane Sports outfit in Saturday's Suffolk Senior Cup contest in sweltering conditions.
Pat Fleming joined Danny George and Darius Laws on the injured list against SIL oppositition who are unbeaten so far this season.
Luke Whitwell conceded an early corner as Marcus Joshiah fired in a low shot, and then the keeper saved above his hea
d from Ollie Langham as Crane began brightly.
The home side scored after 15 minutes as Hadleigh failed to deal with a corner kick. A shot was blocked and Joshiah converted the loose ball.
After 26 minutes Ross Myhill was sent flying in the area but Hadleigh's appeals were turned down. Then Crane keeper Derren Burn pushed a header from Dean Tournay-Godfrey over the bar.
Hadleigh levelled after 41 minutes when Chris Leys made space before firing home via the bar, but two minutes later Crane were awarded a free kick wide on the right which led to a goal.
Chris Lay, the Crane number 11, took the kick and beat Whitwell on the keeper's near post.
At the other end Burn smothered a low shot from Chris Dennett just before half-time as Hadleigh got on top either side of the interval. After 46 minutes Craig Payne was just too high with an overhead kick.
Ross Myhill fired wide from a favourable position and the number seven then headed against the post. Leys was then too high from long range.
At the other end Whitwell saved smartly from Lay but the good play by Langham was finished off by Joshiah to make it 3-1 after 72 minutes. Sixty seconds later Ashley Skeggs bundled home from close-range to score for Hadleigh.
Just before the end Burn saved well from Bradley Barber's free kick to preserve the lead.
Hadleigh United: Whitwell; Kingston, Oakes, (Ruse 82), Leys, Crawford (Skeggs 62), Knott, Myhill, Barber, Payne, Tournay-Godfrey, Dennett.
l Hadleigh Reserves won 7-0 against Cornard United's second string at the Millfield in the second leg of the Chell Trophy. Four goals came in the first half, with Jason Curtis scoring three and Aston Leathers one.
In the second half Leathers added a fifth and the score was unchanged until to the final five minutes when Owen Nunn and Dale Munson made the score 12-1 on aggregate.
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