Its all in a name! Well, nearly! Luke Bythway, the near namesake of last season's FA Cup giant killers Blyth, scored after just 15 seconds to send Guisborough Town into the FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round.
The minute I arrived at the ground, I knew it was going to be lucky in a sense. Arriving just after the last programme had been sold, I was kindly given the content by the gate man, just to staple together myself! How kind!!
Despite the poor weather, there was still a good atmosphere inside, and as time grew near to kick off and the crowd swelled, the atmosphere got better and better. The contingent of young Wakefield Supporters congregated beneath the standing area in one corner, and as the players made their way out onto the KGV Pitch, they began chanting and psyching the lads up for the challenge ahead.
Now, normally the toss of the coin never matters in football. It is not like cricket where you win the toss, make 500, bowl the other team out twice and win. No, winning the toss in football loses you kick off and allows you to change ends. So, Guisborough lost the toss, and kicked off into the rain. They attempted a cross field ball to the left winger, though this was headed to "safety". Out of the blue, a 25 yard effort looped over the outstretched hand of the keeper and rattled the underside of the bar. With the keeper looking on desperately, Luke Bythway ran in to head into the empty nets from 8 yards. The Guisborough fans were ecstatic. Then, the best moment of it all. One hardcore Guisborough Fan, who will remain nameless (you know who you are!!), walks in 5 seconds later!! GUTTED!
As the rain began to come down harder, the balance of the game was even, both teams creating half chances, but every time the ball ended safely in the keepers palms. A few heavy tackles went in, and a few fouls conceded, but nothing troubled either team for the rest of the half. An off-the-ball incident was the only talking point of the first half. Elbow, Fist, Forearm? Or even a kick out, I don't know. Regardless of what it was, it went unpunished by the referee.
Half time arrived, and as usual we had got to the tea hut just before half time. It was time to sample the Mince Pie this time, and again was not disappointed, though the pastry was a touch on the dry side. I can't complain however!!
We took up our spots again in the second half opposite the main stand. The rain was now even heavier, virtually horizontal! We had contemplated going to stand behind a goal, but decided against it.
And then ATG realised people read this blog! A very nice chap came over and began talking, and asked about ATG. It is nice to hear that people do read this blog, and enjoy reading it. It gives us a sense of happiness to know that it is appreciated, especially when people come and tell you, face-to-face. Following the brief discussion about the site, we went on to talk about all things Northern League. Some of the things we discussed were very interesting, such as the Durham City situation, various Northern League Grounds and the new teams in the league. I am thoroughly looking forward to my first visit of the season to Stokesley.
The second half provided no real excitement. Wakefield had most of the possession and chance, winning many corners, but could not turn possession into chances. More mistimed lunges went in, with lack of punishment. More off-the-ball shenanigans went on, and as time went on, things looked less likely to happen for Wakefield. Guisborough had a chance late on to secure the match, with a sweetly struck right foot effort destined for the back of the net, only to be denied by a superb save.
With just minutes left, some Wakefield fans began to head for the gate. And to the delight of the Guisborough and general Northern League Following, the referee blew up for full-time.
A joyous crowd stood by the players changing rooms to cheer the Guisborough Lads off. A nice £1,500 prize money for the club, but most importantly an visit to Kendal in the next round.
Congratulations to Guisborough, and Good Luck on the 12th!!
Sadly, no pictures tonight due to lack of camera!!
Showing posts with label FA Cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FA Cup. Show all posts
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
Monday, 31 August 2009
Harrogate RA v Consett FA Cup Preliminary Round Replay 31/08/09
Only one of the ATG team could make it to the match today so I took 3 friends who are Northern League fans, one of which had just got back from holiday on Saturday having missed four matches so he was looking to catch up and see a good first game upon his arrival back in sunny England (well maybe not as sunny as we would like it to be). After a 0-0 stalemate in the first match both sides were looking to finish the game off second time round. We were hoping that the game wasn't going to end up goalless again and it didn't disappoint as after 8 minutes a hopeful balled was played up to the Consett forwards, the initial header was won by the C
onsett striker which left one defender on his backside. He then played the ball to to Consett's number 9 Craig Tate who finished the ball well to the keepers left to give them a 1-0 lead. This lead didn't last for long as in the 16th minute a Harrogate move down the right ended up with the Harrogate player cutting inside and into the box, he then laid the ball off to Paul Stansfield who was stood on the penalty, he took a touch and placed the ball to the keepers bottom left to bring the scores level again at 1-1. Not long after the restart the Harrogate keeper James Mann produced two fine saves to keep Railway in the game, one after a defensive error which left Craig Tate 1 on 1 with the keeper. He tried to lob him but Mann produced a fine save. Then from the resulting corner a close range glancing header was kept out well by a diving save to his left and in the process keeping Railway very much in this game. After that the game settled down a bit and neither side created clear cut chances. The score line stayed the same until half time and we made our visit to the ca
nteen where we tasted the best Pie and Peas we have ever had on our travels.
Into the second half and the game didn't really have the pace of the first and neither side creating many chances. Consett had the better of the possesion but they never managed to do anything with it and with the game nearing full time both sides were looking like they would have to settle for extra time. The frustration of not being able to break the deadlock showed in the 88th minute. As the ball was going out of play Dan Verity kicked out at a Consett defender resulting in a straight red card, this seemed a bit harsh but Railway where now down to 10 men non the less and they would have to cope with 10 men for 30 minutes more as the game entered extra time.
The first half of extra time was identical to the second half of normal time, Consett possesion and no real chances for either side. The second half of extra time however suddenly came to life with Consett looking like they might steal it right at the death. A Steven Huggins free kick came within inches of going in and had the keeper scrambling across h
is goal. Then with 3 minutes left a ball in from the right was met by a Consett player from about 3 yards out, luckily for the Railway keeper it was hit straight at him off his face and over the bar. That was it and after 210 minutes of football nothing could separate the sides apart from the number of players on the pitch. To penaltys....
Both sides missed their opening penalty with the Railway keeper saving and the Railway player blazing the ball over
The next two were both converted as was the third penalty for both sides.
Then Consett's next penalty was saved but there was controversy as the Harrogate keeper appeared to be a good metre off his line but the linesman did nothing about it. Harrogate went on to score theirs meaning that if they missed they were out.
They did miss however a re-take was allowed as this time the linesman had judged that the Railway keeper was too far off his line. The re-take was scored which meant that Harrogate needed to score their final penalty to win. They obliged and this meant that they went through to the next round. However what happened during the celebration was not acc
eptable, the Railway keeper ran up to the Consett keeper and punched the ball out of his hands whilst shouting and jeering in his face all because the Consett keeper had complained to the linesman about how far off his line he was, totally unacceptable and a shame because it made people overlook his great performance during the game as he was the one who kept Railway in it. A good match and one worth the hour journey down there, got lucky with the weather aswell.
FINAL SCORE:
Harrogate RA 1v1 Consett AET
Harrogate RA win 4v3 on Penalties
onsett striker which left one defender on his backside. He then played the ball to to Consett's number 9 Craig Tate who finished the ball well to the keepers left to give them a 1-0 lead. This lead didn't last for long as in the 16th minute a Harrogate move down the right ended up with the Harrogate player cutting inside and into the box, he then laid the ball off to Paul Stansfield who was stood on the penalty, he took a touch and placed the ball to the keepers bottom left to bring the scores level again at 1-1. Not long after the restart the Harrogate keeper James Mann produced two fine saves to keep Railway in the game, one after a defensive error which left Craig Tate 1 on 1 with the keeper. He tried to lob him but Mann produced a fine save. Then from the resulting corner a close range glancing header was kept out well by a diving save to his left and in the process keeping Railway very much in this game. After that the game settled down a bit and neither side created clear cut chances. The score line stayed the same until half time and we made our visit to the ca
nteen where we tasted the best Pie and Peas we have ever had on our travels.Into the second half and the game didn't really have the pace of the first and neither side creating many chances. Consett had the better of the possesion but they never managed to do anything with it and with the game nearing full time both sides were looking like they would have to settle for extra time. The frustration of not being able to break the deadlock showed in the 88th minute. As the ball was going out of play Dan Verity kicked out at a Consett defender resulting in a straight red card, this seemed a bit harsh but Railway where now down to 10 men non the less and they would have to cope with 10 men for 30 minutes more as the game entered extra time.
The first half of extra time was identical to the second half of normal time, Consett possesion and no real chances for either side. The second half of extra time however suddenly came to life with Consett looking like they might steal it right at the death. A Steven Huggins free kick came within inches of going in and had the keeper scrambling across h
is goal. Then with 3 minutes left a ball in from the right was met by a Consett player from about 3 yards out, luckily for the Railway keeper it was hit straight at him off his face and over the bar. That was it and after 210 minutes of football nothing could separate the sides apart from the number of players on the pitch. To penaltys....Both sides missed their opening penalty with the Railway keeper saving and the Railway player blazing the ball over
The next two were both converted as was the third penalty for both sides.
Then Consett's next penalty was saved but there was controversy as the Harrogate keeper appeared to be a good metre off his line but the linesman did nothing about it. Harrogate went on to score theirs meaning that if they missed they were out.
They did miss however a re-take was allowed as this time the linesman had judged that the Railway keeper was too far off his line. The re-take was scored which meant that Harrogate needed to score their final penalty to win. They obliged and this meant that they went through to the next round. However what happened during the celebration was not acc
eptable, the Railway keeper ran up to the Consett keeper and punched the ball out of his hands whilst shouting and jeering in his face all because the Consett keeper had complained to the linesman about how far off his line he was, totally unacceptable and a shame because it made people overlook his great performance during the game as he was the one who kept Railway in it. A good match and one worth the hour journey down there, got lucky with the weather aswell.FINAL SCORE:
Harrogate RA 1v1 Consett AET
Harrogate RA win 4v3 on Penalties
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