Five minutes into the second half Sheppey made all but certain of the three points when Staniforth easily beat his man on the right and crossed for Reynolds to volley against the post before slotting the rebound into the bottom left corner. With twenty minutes remaining Craig Walker was replaced by Chris Mills on the left of midfield and, five minutes later, it was the substitutes corner from the left that led to Sheppey's fourth goal. Dunhill flicked the ball on at the near post and although Chris Beech saw his shot blocked on the line, Jon Taylor followed up to score his first ever Sheppey goal from 15 yards. Moments later the luckless Beech saw his powerful strike hit both bar and post before bouncing to safety. Spence then made a spectacular save, diving full length to his left to push away a goal bound header. Ten minutes from time tempers boiled over and the Miners were reduced to nine men. An innocuous looking challenge from Mills was the catalyst, the Miners centre half subsequently slapping him across the face. In the aftermath both he and the Miners skipper were sent off, the latter for an alleged push on the referee. Mills was also harshly booked for the original challenge. Five minutes from time the hosts grabbed a consolation goal, Cookson hitting a speculative shot from the edge of the box that took a wicked bounce to deceive Spence and nestle in the corner.
Team: Lewis Spence, Paul Wright, Richard Beecher, Matt Dunhill, Paul Bradley (Russ Ainsworth 35), Jon Taylor, Chris Morris, Mike Reynolds, Chris Staniforth, Craig Walker (Chris Mills 70), Chris Beech
