O’Leary’s men went into the tie looking to bounce back following two consecutive losses in cup ties, recently exiting the Herts Charity Cup to Cheshunt and the FA Trophy at the hands of Cinderford Town. A first round tie against Oxhey Jets provided Bar with the perfect opportunity to gain their first win of the month.

Following a quiet opening, Bar nearly took the lead when a cross found Sach, who couldn’t quite connect with the ball to put the Scholars ahead.

Bar went close in the 23rd minute when debutant Roman Michael-Percil hit the post following an acute pass from Bradley Sach to play him through on goal. The Scholars were beginning to create chances in the tie but were yet to make one count.

Speer nearly gave Oxhey a lead against the run of play, as R’avan Constable was forced to back pedal and tip a long shot onto the bar. This allowed Oxhey to relieve some of the pressure on their own goal with a quick succession of shots and crosses towards the Bar goal.

An uneventful few minutes followed, as Bar had a large share of the ball but were unable to break down the two banks of players Oxhey had behind the ball.

Oxhey had a great chance to go in front late on in the first half, as the ball was headed over unopposed from a corner. The first half ended 0-0, with the Scholars unable to break down a well-organised Oxhey defence, who themselves created good chances as the half developed.

O’Leary responded by making a change at half time, as Humphrey was replaced by Keagan Cole for the second half.

Nicholas fired narrowly over from a cleared cross 57 minutes in, as the Scholars continued to attack to try and break Oxhey down.

Bar began to use Michael-Percil to quickly and effectively turn defence into attack, as he made several driving runs at the heart of the Oxhey defence, but it was to no avail as the Scholars found themselves unable to capitalise on promising positions from out wide.

An important recovery challenge from Quarrington- Carter denied Oxhey a priceless chance to take the lead with fifteen minutes to play, following a through ball to play the striker in on goal.

Substitute Simao looked to win the game late on for Oxhey, as he cut inside to shoot from range, with his effort ending up over the bar. O’Leary’s men then did the same, as Ryan Young fired narrowly over from range. Both sides were desperately trying to avoid penalties, which was to follow were neither side to find the net in the last few minutes.

The final whistle meant that the tie was to be settled by penalties, as a close affair where both sides had chances to win the game in normal time ended goalless.

Bar opted to shoot first as Brad Sach converted from the spot to give the Scholars the lead in the shootout. Lewis then went left to level the scores at 1-1.

An accurate penalty from Andy Lomas nestled into the bottom right hand corner to give Bar the lead. The lead was cemented when Reece Cameron saw his penalty saved by Constable.

A scary moment for Bar fans took place when Young’s penalty found its way in off the bar. Odatemi Adeyemi also scored for Oxhey.

Ward-Cochrane went left, only to see his effort saved to leave the scores at 2-1. It went unpunished by Oxhey as Bircham blazed his penalty over the bar.

Michael-Percil then completed a dream debut by squeezing his penalty past Matt Evans to win the tie for the Scholars.

It was a close tie that could’ve easily slipped away from Bar, but they will now progress to the next round of the Herts FA County Cup.

The Scholars’ attention will now turn to a difficult game against Horsham at the Pakex on Saturday in the Isthmian Premier Division.