QUEEN Elizabeth's Grammar School paid the penalty for a below par performance as they lost to Charterhouse School from Surrey in a sudden death penalty shoot-out.

Both teams found it difficult to adapt to the howling wind which was blowing straight down the QEGS ground at Lammack.

An early Charterhouse corner proved this point as it caught in the breeze and drifted beyond the far post and was nodded over the line to give the visitors a shock lead.

Buoyed by the goal and with the gale behind them, Chartershouse forced two excellent saves from home keeper Damian Taylor as QEGS struggled to come to terms with the conditions.

However in a rare attack, QEGS won a penalty after a Charterhouse defender handled in the box while under pressure from Garry Beardsworth and Martin Stott hammered the spot kick home to equalise before the break.

The Surrey side again looked the better organised and more determined side early in the second half only to fall behind thanks to the most flowing move on the game.

QEGS moved the ball quickly to the Charterhouse area and Stuart MacLean rounded off the move with a spectacular volley high into the roof of the net. Despite solid defending by QEGS captain Adam Gough, Charterhouse continued to threaten and their equaliser came after a poor clearance by the home defence which took the tie into extra time.

The occasion seemed to affect both teams during the 20 minutes of extra time with the ball spending too much time in the air and few chances created.

However a late goal-line clearance prevented QEGS from grabbing a late winner and the match moved to the penalty shoot-out.

Both sides missed one of their first five attempts, after which QEGS failed with a twice taken spot kick leaving the visitors to secure victory and a place in the quarter finals of the ISFA Cup.

Despite their disappointment, the QEGS team could have no complaints after failing to reproduce their true form and Charterhouse had good cause for celebration on the long journey south. QEGS: Damian Taylor, Damien Pickup, Javeed Mohammed, Martyn Stott, Adam Gough, Neil Staff, Charlie Moss, Jamie Nicol, Garry Beardsworth, Chris Porter and Stuart MacLean. Subs: Jonathan West, Alex Guy, David Brown, Damien Landsberger and Andrew Beardsworth.

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