MARTIN Bradshaw ​added another two goals to take his tally to five in a week, but Bracknell Town still went out of the FA Cup after losing 4-3 ​at Shortwood United on Saturday, writes Dave Wright.
​Robins’ in-form winger was following up his first-half hat-trick in the 4-0 Hellenic League Floodlit Cup ​drubbing of Rayners Lane last Tuesday.
​Shortwood play at a level above Bracknell and the scoreline failed to reflect their long spells of domination.
The Southern League Division 1 South and Wet side eased into a three-goal lead inside the opening 35 minutes and would have won more easily but for Robins keeper Garry Aulsberry, whose string of excellent saves included a penalty.
But to their credit, Bracknell never gave up and surprised Shortwood ​ - as well as their own supporters ​- by scoring twice in as many minutes just before half-time.
Bradshaw went on to add a third as Town continued to make the most of the few scoring opportunities that came their way.
Conceding three goals suggested that the Gloucestershire side were vulnerable in defence, but Bracknell were unable to sustain any constant pressure on them as they were on the back foot for large parts of t ​his first qualifying round tie.
Robins went into the game as underdogs, but not without hope as they have performed well in cup ties so far this season, including ​last Tuesday’s
win over Rayners Lane.
But their hopes of pulling off a shock suffered a blow after just 105 seconds when Aulsberry ​ appeared to be caught in two minds about going for a cross and left the unmarked Matt Bennett with an easy goal.
Bracknell’s youngsters looked a little unnerved as they battled against their more experienced opponents.
They were made to pay for giving away a free kick just outside their penalty area, with Jake Lee ​curling the ball past Bracknell’s five-man wall into the bottom right hand corner to make it 2-0 ​after 15 minutes.
From a rare break, Shane Cooper-Clark fired past the home post but Shortwood continued to look a lot more dangerous in attack. They twice went close and Jake Lee headed over an open goal before Liam Meredith met ​overlapping left-back Nick Humphreys’ accurate left-wing cross with a diving header ​ at the near post​ to make it 3-0 after 34 minutes.
Two previous visits to Meadowbank had ended in 5-0 defeats and Bracknell must have feared the worst.
Aulsberry made three more fine saves, one of which even earned a handshake from ​Lee, the forward he had denied ​, while Andre Kelly was outstanding in defence.
However, right out the blue the shape of the game changed dramatically with two goals in as many minutes at the end of the first half. Bradshaw accepted his first opportunity of the game with a well-placed shot across keeper Tom King and 90 seconds later Cooper-Clark seized onto a loose ball to make it 3-2.
But that was as close as Bracknell got. They conceded a fourth goal in the 53rd minute when their defence failed to deal with a right-wing cross and Bennett scored from close range.
Shortwood had a chance to increase their lead when Bracknell skipper Jake White brought down Marley Thomas to concede a penalty, but Aulsberry dived low to his right to push out Lee’s low spot kick.
And the Robins came back into the game nine minutes from time when a long ball from defender Elliot Garrington enabled Bradshaw to ​race through ​and beat King ​to make it 4-3.
With tiring legs, however, they never looked like grabbing a late equaliser.
“I could not fault the boys for effort; they never stopped working,” said Robins manager Keith Pennicott-Bowen.
​Shortwood earned £3,000 from the FA prize fund ​and an away tie with Oxford City in the next round.