THORNBURY Town exited the Gloucestershire Challenge Trophy on penalties at the hands of Longwell Green Sports on Tuesday night.

Having fell behind in the first-half thanks to Sonny Passco's stunning strike, Thornbury battled back to take the game to spot kicks following substitute Luke Garbacz's equaliser.

But it was the hosts who held their nerve to prevail in the competition, where they will face either Bitton or Tytherington Rocks.

In a fixture that was switched to an away game due to the surface at the Mundy's, Thorns headed south to face a Longwell Green side competing in the Toolstation Western League Division One having already overcome near neighbours Cadbury Heath in the previous round.

Passco added to his recent run of goal-scoring form with a brilliant opener after just a couple of minutes. The wide player drove in a volley from the right-hand side to leave Thorns goalkeeper Adam Clark with no chance.

A slow Thornbury start in a match played in gusty conditions had some relief when Marcus Wormwell forced an opportunity at the other end, while Thorns relied on Clark to make a good diving save before the break to ensure they were just the one goal down at the interval.

There was more purpose to Thorns' performance after half-time. An early free-kick opportunity saw Jim Brock curl anattempt just wide of the post.

Creativity was still proving difficult in front of goal however, Garbacz's introduction from the bench made a difference with the midfielder squeezing an equaliser under the crossbar.

The momentum was with Thornbury heading into the final stages and they should have won the game in 90 minutes only to be foiled by some excellent goalkeeping from Longwell Green's Luke Bond.

Stanley Wyatt's positive forward run saw him slam an attempt on goal that was saved, while the pick of Bond's stops came right at the end when Harry Brock looked set to find the back of the net with a well-placed shot that Bond got across his goal to stop.

The match headed straight to penalty kicks and Longwell Green triumphed with a 4-3 victory from the spot to advance into the next stage of the competition.