Haverhill Borough were making their debut in this Suffolk FA Premier Cup 1st Round Fixture sponsored by Omni-Freight Services and came to the King's Marsh Stadium looking to cause an upset. AFC for their part were looking to bounce back from a last gasp defeat at the hands of Canvey Island on Saturday.
Manager Mark Morsley decided to rest striker Jamie Eaton-Collins for this match but his plans were thrown in the air before kick-off when Billy Holland broke down in the warm-up with Eaton-Collins taking his place in the starting line-up and Holland moving to the bench.
There was almost the perfect start for Sudbury when within the first 25 seconds Eaton-Collins saw his effort crash against the underside of the Borough crossbar and rebound to safety.
The visitors took a shock lead on 7 minutes when a Ryan Phillips was seemingly drifting out of play when the efforts of retrieval by Tom Boddey caught the ball before the goal line and pulled back a first time cross that hit Paul Walker and rebounded into the net for a strange own goal against the goalkeepers former club.
Joe Whight saw an AFC free-kick from 25 yards tipped over by Graham Smith in the Borough goal on 10 minutes as the home side pressed for an equaliser but soon after AFC were dealt their second blow of the evening when Will Crisell, making his home debut was forced off with a serious wrist injury, Joe Walker coming on to replace the defender.
Walker was only on the pitch for 4 minutes before he made an immediate impact, sliding in to finish a great cross by Sam Mills on 17 minutes. It stayed that way until the 40th minute when Sudbury took the lead as Alfie Carroll rose to head home Whight's corner from 6 yards.
Haverhill went close to levelling within a minute of the restart when a Phillips free-kick broke to Staines whose turn and shot cracked against the AFC post and away to safety.
Half-Time: AFC Sudbury 2 Haverhill Borough 1
Tom Boddey headed a Phillips free-kick over a minute into the second half as Haverhill came out looking to equalise but it was AFC's neat passing football that was mainly in evidence with Watson, who had been cautioned a minute earlier after chasing down Smith in the Borough goal, saw his effort from the edge of the box whistle just wide on 51 minutes.
Paul Walker saved low to his right from Mat Staines on 53 minutes before on 59 minutes AFC made their second and final change of the night as Joe Maybanks replaced Callum Watson.
Haverhill continued to threaten on the break with Craig Pruden firing just wide on 66 minutes while 4 minutes later Eaton-Collins went close with a similar effort for the home side. The visitors made their first change on 71 minutes with Ryan Weaver replacing Owen Longley. Robbie Alderman became the first Borough player into referee Morris-Sanders note book on 76 minutes following a trip on Eaton-Collins before a minute later Haverhill made their second change with Cody Frazier replacing Pruden.
A mix-up in the AFC defence on 79 minutes nearly let in Frazier but AFC recovered to block his effort but the visitors were not to be denied and on 82 minutes they drew level when following a scramble Mat Staines stabbed home via the legs of a couple of AFC defenders and despite a desperate scramble by Paul Walker in an attempt to recover the ball.
With time running out both teams went looking for the win with Eaton-Collins for AFC seeing his shot blocked by Boddey while Weaver for Borough had two efforts, the first saved by Paul Walker while the second flew over the crossbar.
Full-Time: AFC Sudbury 2 Haverhill Borough 2
The rules this season have been changed in the Premier Cup so with the scores level at the 90 minute mark it was straight to penalties where AFC scored all 5 while Haverhill Borough's former AFC man Ryan Swallow saw his penalty, Borough's 5th saved by Paul Walker leaving Jamie Eaton-Collins to fire home and send AFC through to face Needham Market in the next round.
Penalties:
Ryan Weaver (Haverhill Borough) 0-1
Joe Whight (AFC Sudbury) 1-1
Sam Hawley (Haverhill Borough) 1-2
Tom Dettmar (AFC Sudbury) 2-2
Mat Staines (Haverhill Borough) 2-3
Ben Hunter (AFC Sudbury) 3-3
Tom Boddey (Haverhill Borough) 3-4
Ollie Peters (AFC Sudbury) 4-4
Ryan Swallow (Haverhill Borough) 4-4 (Missed Pen)
Jamie Eaton-Collins (AFC Sudbury) 5-4
Attendance 123
Kalvin Sargeant