The game started in a frantic fashion, which continued throughout the 90 minutes. This began with the home side taking the lead after 6 minutes. Joe Bates latched onto the long ball before rounding the onrushing Liam Shephard and prodding into the empty net.
Cribbs did not let their heads drop and were back in the game almost immediately. A long ball forward from keeper Liam Kingston bounced up on the 4G surface to be nodded into the path of Steve Murray and the forward made no mistake as he rolled the ball into the bottom corner.
Cribbs continued to knock on the door following their equaliser and were twice unlucky not to take the lead. Firstly, a volley from the edge of the box by Murray was stopped well by the Malvern keeper. Then Nick Jones, who had a fine day tormenting the Malvern number 4, was denied by the bar as Cribbs caught their opponents trying to play out from the back but his volley was always rising.
The home side also continued to pose a threat which contributed to the fast-paced tempo of the game and Kingston was on hand to keep out a fine long-range strike.
After 38 minutes Cribbs had their lead, Jack Fillingham bagging his second in as many games as the forward battled through the Malvern defence before squeezing the ball past the keeper via the keeper's palms.
The first half finished as frantically as it began with Malvern levelling on the brink of the break. Matt Turner was alive to the situation to follow in and finish after Kingston did excellently to keep out the first attempt.
The second half kicked off and it was Cribbs’ turn to strike early. Lewis Hedges tapped home following a some pinball in the penalty area. The central midfielder's chance came after Cribbs had put a number of crosses into the box that had not been properly cleared by the home side.
The game then lulled until the 70th minute when it burst back into life. The rejuvenation began with an equaliser for Malvern as Clarke was found unmarked at the far post and the winger had the easy task of tapping into a near-empty net.
Malvern continued to heap pressure on the Cribbs backline, and they found themselves ahead in the 79th minute. Clarke was again on hand to finish once again after Kingston made a save from a freekick bent around his wall.
The stage was set for the Nick Jones show as the tricky winger chopped inside the Malvern number four, who could not deal with the winger's pace and trickery, before placing the ball into the bottom right corner, past the keeper, and into the net. Four all and all to play for!
The last 5 minutes were action-packed as Cribbs hunted a winner with wind in their sails and it could have come in the 87th minute, substitute Niza Chilufya dragged his effort wide after doing brilliantly to break the offside trap in the first place.
The drama was not over and cometh the hour, cometh the man. Ross McErlain pounced on a loose ball before firing a brilliant curling effort right into the top corner. The Malvern keeper had no chance. Cue pandemonium in the Cribbs dug out as, with only 2 minutes to go, Cribbs had found a last-gasp winner in the most spectacular circumstances.
Malvern had no reply to McErlain's stunning strike, and it was Cribbs that ran out 5-4 winners.
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