Gravesend & N 1 Notts County 2

GRAVESEND & Northfleet's players went for a night on the town to drown their sorrows after their FA Cup heartbreak against Notts County on Saturday night.

Fleet came within a whisker of a replay after a fabulous performance in front of the Sky cameras but there was one Gravesend winner on the night.

Steve Perkins' 42nd goal, which gave Fleet the lead, won his mum Janet £40 in the Golden Goal competition.

But that was scant consolation as 10-man Fleet were knocked out with a goal deep into injury time. And you feel paul Gibbs will have had to get the first round in as it was his moment of madness that got him sent off and handed the initiative to the league side.

County, who came out of administration in the week, had the best of the early chances but Fleet were showing they were more than a match for the oldest football league club.

Andrew Drury had the first effort on target, a weak effort from distance that should have been played to James Pinnock who was in a much better position after 12 minutes.

But County immediately went down field and almost opened the scoring themselves. Darren Caskey played the ball into Clive Platt who rounded Paul Wilkerson and hit the ball goalwards but Gibbs was Fleet's saviour as he got back to hack the ball off the line. He would soon turn from hero to villain.

Platt brought a good reaction stop from Wilkerson as he sent a header goalwards from the corner but Wilkerson was on hand to tip the ball over.

Neither side could find away through but primary school teacher Perkins gave the 2,998 fans packed into Stonebridge Road just what they'd been waiting for just before the break.

Walshe played a clever back heel to Drury. The 20-year-old drove at goal before playing a beautifully-weighted ball into Perkins' path just outside the box.

He struck it between Nicky Fenton's legs and the ball squirmed under Steve Mildenhall's hand who to send Stonebridge Road into raptures.

It was just the fillip Fleet needed but Wilkerson almost gifted County a lifetime in the final minute of the half when he spilled Steve Jenkins' cross to the feet of Platt. A bit of ball juggling got him a yard of space but he somehow fired his dipping volley over the bar.

At half time, a cup upset was on the cards with the Fleet faithful dreaming of Manchester in January.

But County had other ideas as they took the game to Andy Ford's side. Simon Baldry had an early effort when he drove into the box and sho., Wilkerson made a hash of the first save but two defenders and the keeper smothered Paul Heffernan's follow up effort.

Heffernan had a weak effort easily saved from close range before Fleet had their first real chance of the half.

Chris Moore headed into Steve McKimm's path but Mildenhall made a fabulous stop from McKimm's piledriver.

Heffernan fired over from eight yards before three minutes of madness turned the game in the visitors favour.

Wilkerson had to go off after a lengthy delay with cramp to be replaced by Alex O'Reilly. His first touch was a fabulous save from Caskey's free kick. His second was to pick the ball out of the net as Fenton rose highest to head the ball home from the ensuing corner.

And three minutes later Fleet were reduced to ten men. Gibbs felt he was fouled by Baldry and when referee Richard Beeby failed to act, Gibbs saw red and clattered into Baldry with a late, stupid challenge.

And he saw red again for the second time in as many seconds as Mr Beeby unnecessarily sent Gibbs off when a yellow card would have sufficed for the Fleet man.

McKimm was booked for dissent in the same incident as tempers threatened to boil over.

With the balance tipped heavily in County's favour it was a rearguard action for fleet but they dug in and reduced County to a single long-range effort from Ian Barraclough who smashed his shot well over the bar.

The fourth official's board showed seven minutes of injury time but County needed just three to kill the tie off..

A ball into the area was diverted into Platt's path by Drury as he attempted a sliding clearance. And the tall striker held off Moore before burying the ball into the back of the net.

It was a cruel blow for Fleet but they roared back and very nearly a late equaliser. Substitute Pat Gradley whipped in a great cross and Lee Shearer hung in the air before powering a header goalwards but Mildenhall was able to claw the ball out of the top corner and County held on.

Afterwards, a philosophical Andy Ford said: "We had a couple of injuries and with Paul (Gibbs) being sent off we had to change to formation a couple of times which disrupted us a little bit but the players gave us everything they had.

"But the game came down to two 15-second blips that have let us down which were the discipline with the sending off and defending from corners. That's the third goal in three games where we've conceded from corners and that's an area we have got to work on."

On the sending off, he added: "I didn't think it was a straight red. Initially Paul got fouled but the referee didn't blow the whistle. Had he blown the whistle for the initial foul then it would have been nipped in the bud and nothing else would have happened after that.

"But that's happened in the last few games. We spoke about discipline before the game and that's an area in which we need to improve.

"We fought and we were always in it and I was very pleased with the team spirit. That's one of our biggest assets and we've now got to make sure we go into the next part of the season and climb the table because that's the most important thing.

"We've enjoyed the cup run, and the money we have earned, but now we need to make sure we get to that mid-table position."

Fleet: Wilkerson (O'Reilly 65 mins), Lee, Shearer, Moore, Gibbs, Strouts, McKimm, Perkins, Walshe (Gradley 89), Drury, Pinnock (Abbey 75 mins). Unused subs - Haworth, Duku.

Notts County: Mildenhall, Jenkins, Nicholson, Fenton, Richardson, Baldry, Caskey, Bolland (Murray 80 mins), Barraclough, Platt, Heffernan. Unused subs - Deeney, Stallard, Riley, Barras.