Greig Taylor's goal was not enough to prevent Takeley suffering an agonising 8-7 penalty shootout defeat.

AN agonising 8-7 defeat on penalties saw Takeley dumped out of the league cup by the narrowest of margins last Wednesday.

Leading 2-1 after the first leg – and sitting pretty at the top of the Essex Senior League – boss Steve Castle and his players were in buoyant mood ahead of Bethnal Green United’s visit to Station Road.

But the home side were in for a rude awakening as the visitors took the game to their opponents from the outset.

Bethnal Green’s Kingsley Francis struck the crossbar in the opening 10 minutes to spark the tie into life, before Bradley Biggins also went close on the half hour mark.

Takeley were not to be out done though. They had a shout for a penalty when Vinny Murphy was hauled down on the edge of the box shortly before half time.

However, the referee ruled it was outside of the box and it remained goalless going into the break.

But 10 minutes after the restart the visitors had their lead when Anton Stephenson rose to thump home a powerful header past keeper Paul Wavell.

Takeley were unable to find the equaliser which would have won the tie in normal time, and with away goals not a factor in the league cup, a further 30 minutes of extra time were required to separate the two teams.

Greig Taylor looked to have done enough to see the hosts safely through to the next round when he converted a penalty after being upending in the box on 95 minutes, only for Bethnal Green to snatch a dramatic leveller two minutes from time.

Striker Graeme Turner was the only Takeley player to see his effort saved in the first five penalties of the shootout, although he earned a reprieve by means of Wavell’s stop from Kadir Jama.

It went to sudden death, only for captain Alex Martin to be denied by another save from Abraham Mahmood before Francis stepped up to send the visitors into the next round.

Takeley were due to be back in action against rivals Stansted in the Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy last night. They face Bethnal Green away on Saturday as they continue their assault on the Essex Senior League, kick off 3pm.