Talented teenage goalkeeper Adam Dunsdon was plucked from the obscurity of Bromley Academy to play a starring role. It was a masterstroke by boss Dixie Dean whose plans had been thrown into disarray after giant goalkeeper Rob O’Hara was sidelined following a shoulder injury.

Dean tapped into his football contacts book and was indebted to Chipstead manager Kevin Rayner for recommending Dunsdon who produced an accomplished display belying his young years. The Lingers duly kept their first clean sheet of the season, a remarkable achievement by a rookie custodian.

With man of the match right back Dean Carden also in outstanding form, The Lingers provided themselves with the necessary platform to advance again in the prestigious competition. However, second from bottom visitors Worthing United made a nonsense of their lowly status, pushing sixth-placed Sussex County League Division One rivals Lingfield all the way.

Indeed, for the second successive home game, it was the visitors who dominated proceedings and yet left frustrated with nothing to show for their spirited attacking efforts and seemingly constant pressure.

There was little incident in the first half as The Lingers struggled to get any width or attacking thrust into their game and it was little surprise in reaching the interval goal-less.

Lingfield had appeared to underestimate their struggling visitors, but it was equally obvious that another harsh interval team talk from no-nonsense manager Dean would set them back on the right road to success.

Nonetheless, a scheduled Tuesday replay had looked likely if extra-time had failed to resolve the issue. Eventually, it took 75 minutes to unlock the victory door as lively substitute Craig Pitterson, who had replaced Hidekazu Sato 17 minutes earlier, fired home, giving goalkeeper Steve Allfrey no chance following experienced striker Jamie Lawrence’s classy lay-off.

However, The Lingers survived a scare after 86 minutes when centre back Fred Fleming dithered and was nearly punished for his mistake as lively Lloyd Skinner dispossessed him and looked set to equalise only for Fleming to recover and make a superb saving tackle. Substitute Lewis Finney’s follow up shot was saved superbly again by Dunsdon with extra-time looming.

Success was sealed after two stoppage-time minutes when impressive young referee Jamie Pope adjudged that Grant Philpott had fouled Harry Sintim in the penalty area, awarding a spot-kick which dependable Daryl Coleman converted, sending Allfrey the wrong way. Philpott and Finney were both cautioned following the last gasp decision, making it a total of seven cautions in a typical competitive tie.

By David Groves.