Clipstone giantkilling as they see off St Neots in League Cup

Assistant manager Ian Birtley said: “I have mixed emotions for sure. First half we weren't at the races and didn't seem to match their intensity, but second half we have to be pleased with the character shown and some exceptional performances.

"All-in-all it was a good second half.”

Both sides had half-chances, but when a corner came into the box on 18 minutes, Charlie Taylor headed home to put Cobras one up.

St Neots took Clipstone's goal as a wake-up call and responded with some pressure when Brown had the ball slid across to him, but his shot was easily saved by Josh Turton in the Clipstone net.

As the heat settled in, the intensity dropped and in the 44th minute, St Neots levelled the game up through striker Joshua Brown.

It then only took a matter of minutes before St Neots took the lead when a shot from the edge of the box wasn't pressed by the Cobras and beat Turton at his far post.

Cobras came out the livelier of the two teams in the second half in the scorching conditions and 12 minutes into the second half a ball into the box from Lewis Weaver met Will Heather, who powered his header home to level. It only took a minute before Clipstone were back in front when Jack Gibb had the ball fed to him and he poked it past the keeper and into the net to complete the turn-around.

The Cobras remained in full control and were looking to kill the game off in the 70th minute when a ball into the box from a corner wasn't cleared by St Neots, but the resulting shot was fired over from 10 yards.

The game was killed off on 90+6 minutes, when Gareth Curtis slotted a ball across to Ryan Ingram, who powered it home past a helpless keeper. And three minutes later, a scramble in the box allowed Will Heather space and time from eight yards to put his shot out of reach to make it another five goals scored for the Cobras.

However, Premier Division AFC Mansfield crashed out of the competition in a 6-0 home hammering by Ashby Ivanhoe.