Leyton Orient beat Boreham Wood on penalties to reach round two of FA Cup

Posted Monday, November 04, 2024 by PA

Leyton Orient booked their place in round two of the FA Cup by overcoming Boreham Wood 3-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw at Meadow Park.

Ethan Galbraith converted the decisive spot-kick for the visitors after the Tom Whelan, Chris Bush and Junior Dixon had all failed with their attempts for the hosts.

Orient, who had defender Jayden Sweeney sent off in extra time, had looked set to make comfortable progress in the competition when they took a two-goal lead.

Sonny Perkins drilled home a left-footed shot to open the scoring after 12 minutes before providing the cross for Dan Agyei to double their advantage from close range four minutes into the second half.

But National League South side Boreham Wood, who started the match 63 places below their League One opponents in the football pyramid, were given hope on 69 minutes when Tyrone Marsh stabbed the ball home from Erico Sousa’s centre.

And they grabbed a deserved equaliser on 85 minutes when substitute Charlie O’Connell outjumped the visiting defence and sent a powerful header into the net from a corner to take the tie into extra time.

The O’s were reduced to 10 men on 101 minutes when Sweeney was dismissed for a second bookable offence, forcing them to rely on solid defending to take the tie to a shoot-out.