Black bags back to back braces

The 2-0 win over UCL outfit Thrapston Town earns them a home tie against Yaxley in the First Round Proper next month.

Building on an early goal, Cristian Colas’ men made hard work of it at times but ultimately saw off their opponents with great professionalism.

Black made his intentions abundantly clear from the outset and combined well with Dave Iwediuno prior to sliding the ball past the goalkeeper with just two minutes on the clock.

Perhaps a sense of urgency had evaporated with the early goal as United’s control of proceedings waned in favour of more Thrapston attacking play. Their best chance fell to Dave Goodman who, having arrived on the field just seconds earlier in place injured forward Cory James, forced an excellent save out of the in-form Robbie Ponting.

One of the best-constructed moves of the match came after the interval as Thrapston carved United open with some terrific passing. The final delivery let them down but the attack served as a warning.

A robust challenge on Black sparked a fracas amongst the players, and a heated exchange of words between the coaches, in an incident that reflected the frenetic nature of the contest by that point.

Soon enough, however, the tie was settled in sensational style.

Working in tandem again Iwediuno retrieved the ball from the defender on the halfway line and from then it was all about the mastery of Black.

He took the ball on, spotted Liam Fox off his line and had the temerity to unleash a tremendous strike that sailed over the despairing goalkeeper and into the net.

There was still time for Ponting to tip Wayne Brown’s header onto the bar while Jaiden Irish was denied at the other end.

United head to Premier Division champions London Colney on Saturday.