Framlingham Town 6 Cedars Park 0A depleted Cedars Park crashed out of the Omnico Cup at Senior Division Framlingham in a game goalkeeper Haydn Backhouse will want to forget.
The teenage custodian was caught out three times from long-range and The Lions never looked likely to pull off a cup giant-killing against a team from five rungs higher up the Suffolk & Ipswich League ladder.
Cedars Park manager Andy Kirk was back in the dug-out, having been in Australia for the Ashes at Christmas when the match was originally scheduled. But he was without key men Liam Edwards and Marcus Batley, both having started their own globetrotting adventures, and 15-goal top scorer Tom Lankester, who was unavailable.
It could not have been a worse start for the reshuffled Division Five visitors' ranks as they conceded a goal within a minute of the kick-off, Kieron Nicholls converting at the far post.
Cedars Park's sights of goal were few and far between but Stephen Holland started and finished a good move after 10 minutes, shooting at home keeper Simon Nunn from the edge of the penalty area.
The best chance for the visitors fell to centre-back Simon Anderson six minutes later but he headed high and wide from David Thompson's corner when he escaped his markers at the back post.
Backhouse pulled off a superb goal-line block to deny Michael Beaton but was beaten on the half-hour mark when he could only parry a free-kick and Ross Hutchins swept the loose ball home on the turn.
Left-back Craig Tostevin twice cleared Nicholls' close-range efforts off the line as The Lions hung on to trail by only two goals at the break.
But any glimmer of hitting back to pull off a cup upset were dashed within seven minutes of the restart.Four minutes into the half Joel Steggell launched a 45-yard shot into the Cedars Park penalty area and disaster struck for Backhouse as he was caught off his line and could only flap at the ball as it looped into the net.
Nine minutes later Robert Harvey's free-kick from wide on the left flew straight into the net with Backhouse again bamboozled.
Danny Moore had a chance to pull a goal back when he cut inside and beat two defenders and Nunn with a shot but it lacked power and the goalkeeper was able to recover and pick the ball up before it crossed the line.
The agony piled up for Backhouse after 61 minutes when he pushed out Hutchins' 20-yard shot straight to Steggell for the left-back's second gift goal of the game.
The young goalkeeper recovered to pull off a tremendous save to keep out Danny Claxton's close-range flick but could do nothing to stop the substitute completing the scoring with the goal of the game. Claxton won the ball on the right wing and cut inside before curling the ball into the net off the post from the edge of the penalty area.
Backhouse did manage to end the game on a high though, denying Steggell's his hat-trick with a good block from a 15-yard pile-driver.
There was, however, some good news for Cedars Park with the reserves pulling off their own cup upset with a 7-5 extra-time victory over Bacton United Reserves in the Club Colours Cup.
Framlingham: Nunn, Whatling (Wilding, half-time), Steggell, Kerridge, Grover, Baker, Hutchins, Harvey, Beaton (Vincent, 65), Ward, Nicholls (Claxton, 51).Substitutes (not used): Poacher, Chaplin.
Scorers: Nicholls 1; Hutchins 31; Steggell (2) 49, 61; Harvey 52; Claxton 76.
Cedars Park: Backhouse, Kennedy, Tostevin, Henke, Jacobs, Anderson, Firman (Coe, 65), Thompson, Holland, Allnutt, Moore (Bouldin, 84).
Substitute (not used): Greenwood.
Stowmarket's Louise Christopher was crowned girls' singles champion at the Ipswich & District Badminton League championship.
