Penalty trouble for United

For the second successive week United let a half time lead slip and it was a tale of two penalties for FC Deportivo Galicia in as many minutes which was the hosts undoing.

Playing with a high tempo Woodley enjoyed much of the first half was played in the visitors’ half with wingers Connor Suckling and Connor Richardson coupled with good support play from John Openibo, Ornildo Shehu and Alex Donville causing the defence problems.

Openibo saw a shot rebound of the crossbar and fall to Richardson whose shot was blocked from close range by Galicia’s keeper Migs Sanchez. Shehu was twice saw Sanchez block shots, the first following good play by Openibo to find the midfielder and the second from a Donville pass.

Shehu opened the scoring in the thirty ninth minute. Donville won the ball in midfield and passed it to Suckling who on the right wing who in turn ran and passed to Shehu who got between two defenders to beat Sanchez at his far right hand post for his first goal for the club.

Sanchez denied Tahir Carmichael a minute before half time tipping a shot over the crossbar.

United started the second half as they played the first with a four player move involving Richardson, Openibo, Shehu and Donville saw the latter challenged as he shot and the ball going to Sanchez.

However, the withdrawal of Suckling due to injury allowed Deportivo to start to go forward and have more play in the Woodley half. From one attack Noah Coates was deemed to have handled the ball to give the visitors the first of their two penalties, in the sixtieth minute. Alex Londors saved Joel Gomes shot to his left and then tipped Koshey Murtra-Ebiesuwa’s follow up shot over the cross bar.

From the resulting short corner the ball was played into the home penalty area where Manny Abu-Essah impeded an opponent for the second penalty of the game. Matty Orobio fired the spot kick into the roof of the net to beyond the diving Londors to level the scores in the sixty second minute.

The goal lifted Deportivo while Woodley struggled to regain their earlier momentum, with their best effort of a goal coming in the seventy first minute when Openibo saw a shot block and cleared to safety.

Londors, Abu-Essah, Coates, Carmichael (Brandao), Nwokobia, Creech, Suckling (Davies), Shehu (DeBarros), Openibo, Donville, Richardson (Maadini) Subs not used: Walker