CONSETT v PICKERING TOWN

FA Vase 2^nd Qualifying Round - 24 September 2016

Another FA Vase Saturday, and another drive up to the North Pennines on another fine day. Key differences from Tow Law a fortnight ago are the wind (too stiff to call a breeze), the pitch (3G), and the status of the teams who are a level up: Consett and Pickering Town are from step 5 leagues, respectively Northern League Division 1 and Northern Counties East Premier Division.

Belle View is a new ground with a small stand on each side, and a modern clubhouse that includes a veranda providing cover for those who prefer to stand, or sit at the tables in what forms an outdoor café-bar area. Most importantly today it provides shelter from the wind. Though the pitch is artificial the bounce of the ball (during the warm up seems at least) seems natural.

The first fifteen minutes sees play swing from end to end, both teams coping well with the crosswind. For Consett Lewis Teasdale has a couple of pots, easily fielded by the keeper; for Pickering Ryan Blott has a free kick that clips the bar. Then Pickering produce a fine sweeping move that carries the ball from left back to the right wing from where Ryan Cooper cuts in and drills a shot just wide of the far post.

On Pickering’s next foray forward Nick Thompson suckers Danny Craggs into an unwise challenge on the edge of the box and to the dismay of the home fans and players a penalty is awarded. Blott takes, but his attempted roll into the bottom corner of the net is underhit and Chris Elliot saves at full stretch.

Consett get the next chance, again it is Teasdale who finds some space ten yards from goal but his chest trap is poor and the resulting shot weak. In contrast Pickering’s next attempt is from fifty yards, as a volleyed clearance from the centre half has Elliot scampering to guard one of his goalposts as the ball bounces close.

On the half hour some trickery by Teasdale releases team mate Michael Sweet but his shot is tipped past the far post by Toby Wells. His opposite number Elliot is in action next when Blott, stood on the penalty spot, volleys a cleared corner straight at him. Tit for tat continues as Teasdale shoots narrowly wide for Consett.

Minutes off half time a Pickering through ball sees Blott battle with the centre half and prevail sufficiently to toe poke the ball past Elliot and into the net, getting some redemption for the penalty miss. The even half could have gone either way so there remains plenty to play for tin the second forty-five.

Consett start the second half on attack and Teasdale again is prominent stabbing a shot on target that beats the keeper but is cleared off the line by a defender.

Pickering’s first attack of the half comes to a halt when the linesman flags and the referee blows his whistle. Keeper Elliot comes out of his goal to return the ball for what he and his team think is a Consett free kick for the offside flag. Unfortunately the referee’s whistle was for a Consett foul and Pickering’s Blott, alive to the opportunity, places the ball and lofts it into the empty net. Consett consternation has no effect on the officials and the home team now face an uphill task from two down.

To their credit they buckle to, and a header from Teasdale and shot from Slocombe come close then a cracking effort from substitute Lavery is well saved by Wells. But the forward effort is leaving them short in numbers at the back, where they are also found flat-footed and out of position when a simple through ball gives Nathen Kamara the freedom to stroll through the middle and slot Pickering’s third goal.

It’s a lost cause but Consett don’t give up and from a corner the ball falls to Sweet whose volley finds its way through the crowded box and into the goal to claw one back. Encouraged the Consett forwards begin to hit the target, but as they improve their game so does Pickering keeper Toby Wells, who caps a fine performance with a flying save to tip a free kick past the angle of post and bar. Consett can’t muster another chance and Pickering hold on comfortably to go through.

Consett lacked a bit of intensity, possibly a hangover from their tough FA Cup replay midweek when they lost 1-0 to Curzon Ashton from a few leagues up, playing much of the game with ten men. With today’s outcome the Steelmen’s cup runs have both ended in the space of a few days. The Pikes meanwhile go into the draw for the first round proper.

SPENNYMOOR TOWN v WHITBY TOWN

FA Cup 2^nd Qualifying Round - 17 September 2016

Brewery Field is not, even on a sunny day like this, the most picturesque setting in non-league football but it is firmly rooted in its community, tucked in among the terraced houses of Spennymoor. But it is a neat, tidy and well-kept ground with terraces on all sides (covered at one end) and a sizeable grandstand straddling halfway.

Today’s cup opponents are Whitby Town, and with both teams starting well in the NPL Division 1 North, the contest should be even. A glance at the home team sheet shows continuity from last season’s promotion winning team; the visitors’ line-up also includes a few familiar names, mainly familiar from watching Guisborough last season, as new manager Chris Hardy has recruited the cream of his old Northern League team. It will be interesting to see how they perform at this higher level.

Spennymoor dominate the early possession, but make little headway against the Whitby back five; their most productive route seems to be via the tall number nine, Glen Taylor. He has a prodigious leap and wins plenty of flick-ons in the air. His problem is the referee who finds him over-physical and penalises him once or twice.

Twenty minutes in, it is another of the Spennymoor big men, centre half Joe Tait, who wins a telling header. From a corner he heads powerfully down but the ball is cleared off the line by a well-positioned defender.

After absorbing pressure Whitby begin to show ambition. With three centre halves in position the two full backs are given licence to attack and Danny McWilliams on the left sends over a deep cross that clears everyone except his opposite full back Callum Martin also well forward. His shot is well struck but too square and it flies across the six yard line unimpeded. Minutes later it is Martin who crosses, and when the defensive header drops just outside the box it is McWilliams on hand to shoot, albeit well over the bar.

Back at the other end Spennymoor still struggle to penetrate. A free kick 25 yards out provides an opportunity but Craig Gott’s effort strikes the wall and the ricochet is dealt with competently by the defenders.

So it remains nil-nil at half time, not through lack of commitment or skill, it is just well matched teams whose systems make for few chances. Spennymoor’s attack is narrow and finds little space among Whitby’s back five. Whitby’s main attacking threat is the full backs but their teammates up front are short on stature and get little joy out of Spennymoor’s twin towers of Joe Tait and James Curtis.

Early in the second half, out of nothing except possibly a failed offside trap, Whitby’s centre forward Mikey Roberts is suddenly bearing down on the Spennymoor goal. Keeper Dan Lowson rushes from his line and blocks well. Soon after Roberts is back in possession and the home defence back off inviting him to shoot. He obliges but hits wide of the mark. When his opposite number Taylor picks up a loose ball outside Whitby’s penalty area and shoots just wide, we have had more attempts on goal in fifteen second half minutes than the whole of the first forty-five.

When left back McWilliams is forced off with an injury Whitby replace him with Curtis Round, more a winger, possibly indicating a change in formation and a more attacking intent. And soon after Whitby produce the best move of the game so far as Steve Snaith, Mikey Roberts and Matty Tymon combine with the last mentioned firing in a fierce shot, well saved low down at the near post by Lowson.

Spennymoor respond with sustained pressure. David Dowson and Glen Taylor both have shots blocked. Taylor than has a penalty shout when he is barged over in the box; but the referee is unimpressed. Five minutes later, when a seemingly harmless high ball goes into the Whitby goalmouth, Taylor wrestles more effectively with his marker Luke Bythway and, with the defender on the floor, is able to shoot firmly through the keeper into the net.

The one goal may settle it, even with a quarter of the game to go, but Whitby dispute that hypothesis with spirited attacks. A sliced clearance and a Lowson flap give them a sight of goal but a side-footed effort is easily blocked by defenders guarding the line.

Spennymoor just need to survive a couple of free kicks from the right, one over-hit and the other well gathered by Lowson, and then see time out up near a corner flag, to ensure passage to the next round.

A game more for the purist at Brewery Field; tight and competitive rather than spectacular. After the goal feasts of the last three rounds a reminder that cup football comes in all shapes and sizes, but all an enjoyable part of a good cup run.

TOW LAW TOWN v NORTON & STOCKTON ANCIENTS

FA Vase 1^st Qualifying Round - 10 September 2016

At this, the earliest stage of the FA Vase competition, the opportunity is taken to see a couple of ‘step 6’ clubs (both Northern League Division 2) in action and to make a first visit to Ironworks Road. And if visiting Tow Law it is as well to come early in the season on a day like this, warm and so still the windmills alongside the A68 are, for once, immobile.

The home of “The Lawyers” is perched high in the North Pennines so we have good views from the touchline terrace over the opposite stand (the seats forming black and white stripes reflecting the team colours) to the hills beyond. It is neat and tidy, and quiet before kick-off; hard to imagine it holding the five thousand plus that watched them beat Mansfield Town in a 1967-68 FA Cup tie. More recently, but still a while since, the Lawyers have had success in the Vase too, runners up in 1998.

Those days are long gone and as the home programme editor states quite bluntly Tow Law haven’t won a vase tie in donkey’s years. As for the visitors, they have made a good start in division two after last season’s relegation.

The game starts lively enough and Norton get in a couple of threatening crosses. For Tow Law, Chris Mordue provides Dean Thexton with a tap-in, but it is disallowed for offside. The two combine again, this time it is Mordue with the chance but he chips it into the keeper’s hands.

On twenty minutes Norton swing a free kick into the Lawyer’s penalty area. The defenders hold a line, but it seems the wrong one as no offside is flagged; and as keeper Jack Patton advances only late from his line, it is Marcus Laing for Norton who gets to the ball first. He lifts the ball over Patton and a defender’s despairing attempt to rescue the situation from under the bar just helps it home.

Minutes later Norton attack down the right and are able to work the ball across the box until, rugby-like, the create an overlap in James Wilson who is able, unchallenged, to fire past Patton for the second goal.

Tow Law are shell shocked and Norton’s dominance next finds space down the left. Laing curls an in-swinging centre and number 9 Nicky Martin, despite his relative lack of inches, rises to glance a header into the bottom corner of the net. The three goals have come in a twenty minute spell and it looks like game over already.

It takes Tow Law about ten minutes to regroup, but they show some fight with a fine shot from Lee Blades, well saved by Carl Robinson at the cost of a corner. This is followed by a couple of dangerous looking crosses from right and left, but there is no further change to the scoreline by half time.

Tow Law continue positively after the break, with substitute Kelvin Thear busy up front using pace and trickery to turn the Norton defence. Nothing comes of his efforts; but then left back Adam Quigley crosses deep to the far post where Mordue leaps to head back across goal and into the net.

There is still half an hour to go so the home fans have hope. But as Tow Law press, so Norton get space to play in at the other end. A clever turn in the box by Phil Caley and a mazy run from substitute Dan Wheeler both could have ended better.

Meanwhile Tow Law’s Thear continues to pester the Norton defence, causing a collision between the keeper and defender who are grateful to see the ball go dead before Thear can reach it. However Norton’s two goal cushion remains intact, enabling them to see out the game comfortably.

The difference between the teams has been Norton’s precision and composure during that twenty minute, three goal, spell. Tow Law huffed and puffed but never really found that telling pass into the penalty area. And they still haven’t won a Vase tie in donkey’s years.

BISHOP AUCKLAND v OSSETT ALBION

FA Cup 1^st Qualifying Round - 3 September 2016

The preliminaries are over, and Northern League Bishop Auckland have progressed to the qualifying rounds. They are a club with a proud heritage in non-league, particularly amateur, football winning the FA Amateur Cup ten times including three years in a row (1955-57) in front of huge crowds at Wembley.

It is with this history in mind that their (relatively) new ground is named Heritage Park. After six years it remains smart and functional, but on a rainy day like today the only cover is standing behind one goal or sitting in the cantilever stand astride the centre line opposite the dug-outs. I choose the latter to give a more balanced view of the action.

The “Two Blues” are ambitious and are one of few clubs actively seeking promotion from the Northern League; if they succeed they will face the likes of Ossett Albion in the Northern Premier League Division 1 North on a weekly basis. So it should be an interesting encounter today, with the chance of a minor giant kill.

The teams file out with Bishop in a new version of two blue: instead of traditional halves, the shirt centres are Cambridge with sides and sleeves of Oxford. Ossett’s shirts are similarly designed but in orange and black.

The early exchanges see shots from both centre forwards: Bishop’s Andrew Johnson clips a half-volley just over the bar, while Ossett’s Rob Bordman hits a free kick into the chest of the keeper. The game continues in the same open fashion. Bishop midfielder Priestley Griffiths shoots from distance but finds only the side netting; for Ossett, Adam Muller cleverly shifts his feet to create space in the Bishop penalty area but his rising shot only glances the crossbar on its way over.

With half an hour now on the clock Bishop’s turn at attacking produces a cross from the right; it is overhit but retrieved and immediately returned from the left, finding Ian Ward unmarked and able to side-foot the ball back across the keeper and into the net.

Ossett try to respond and the nippy James Eyles goes clear on the left; with the Bishop defenders retreating Eyles pulls a cross back to Bordman who steers a shot just wide of the post. Under pressure the home side are playing for the rapidly approaching half time, but with a minute to go their keeper launches a punt upfield for which the burly Ward competes. When the ball ricochets forwards it is Johnson who reacts quickest and calmly places the ball past the Ossett keeper and into the net.

There is no time to restart. Bishop Auckland deserve the half time lead but maybe not by two goals. They have been keener out of possession, pressing to regain the ball, and more clinical in front of goal.

Ossett come out shouting and clearly mean business. One early shot is easily gathered; and then a ball into the centre finds Eyles in space, unmarked, apparently not offside, in the penalty area. He lifts the ball past the exposed keeper to pull back a goal with over half an hour to go. Now both teams look interested, with Ossett the more assertive.

Bishop relieve the pressure with a long ball that the speedy Johnson chases down. He can’t control it before keeper Brett Souter arrives but in the resulting tangle the ball runs free to Ward who cleverly chips it over the prostrate pair into the goal to restore a two goal cushion.

Ossett make a double substitution, then a third enforced by injury; centre half Dominic South is pushed up to add height in competing for the more frequent route one option adopted. He does get a half chance but his shot is weak and easily gathered.

Bishop make substitutions too, including Chris Winn for the two-goal Ward. Winn soon gets a run on goal, only stopped by a potential foul, but as the ball runs to Johnson the referee plays advantage. Rightly, as the number nine slots in another accurate finish, to surely settle the tie at 4-1.

Not quite: as the ref confirms three added minutes the still lively Eyles flashes a shot across Bishop’s bows. Then Bishop full back Michael Hoginson storms up the left wing, involved three times in a move that ends with his precise cross to Winn, whose first time shot bulges the Ossett net for the fifth and final time.

The articulate Heritage Park announcer confirms the final 5-1 score and reveals the attendance of 328, most of whom will go home happy with the thumping win. Ossett Albion were not so gigantic but the killing was more of a massacre, or at least a lesson in finishing.

Bishop Auckland have now sailed through three rounds with scorelines of 4-0, 4-1 and 5-1 so they will look forward to the next round full of confidence. And A Good Cup Run is doing well for goals too, totalling 20 in the three FA Cup games so far.