Anyway without further ado here is a report of the match:-
Coleshill Town 1 South Shields 2, Buildbase FA Vase Semi Final First Leg, Saturday 11th March 2017
It was Semi Final 1st Leg day in the FA Vase and I was at Pack Meadow on the outskirts of Birmingham to see hosts Coleshill Town entertain competition favourites South Shields in front of a record 1,755 crowd at their tiny but neat home.
The hosts were having and good season, sitting second in the Midland Premier Division, and were on a thirteen game winning run until their defeat at Shawbury United last weekend, although compared to the season the visitors were having it didn’t seem as good.
Ever since the North East side from the outskirts of Newcastle lost to rivals North Shields on Guy Fawkes night they have won 22 games in a row as they chase the record of 27 consecutive victories set by Welsh Premier side The New Saints earlier this season, eclipsing the previous record set by the mighty Ajax in 1972 of 26 games.
However records would of been towards the back of everyone’s mind as they tried to gain an advantage in this tie and get ever closer to that Wembley finale. However it was the hosts who had the brighter start and on 8 minutes saw a Joshua Quaynor effort tipped over by Shields keeper Liam Connell.
Three minutes later a decent effort from Robert Evans tested Shields Connell again and then in the 19th minute a hosts free kick from the left was swung into the area and saw it glanced over the goal by Jordan Nadat. It had certainly shown anyone present that the hosts were intent on giving the visitors a proper test out there.
The visitors first real opening came midway through the half when a dangerous ball into the box was cleared over the bar by a defender however in the 27th minute the hosts were on the front foot again and after a decent ball forward tried to find forward Nadat, keeper Connell came out but could only blast a clearance at Nadat which hit the Coleshill forward but went well wide.
On 32 minutes a corner from the hosts saw Evans get in front of his marker but head well wide and then a minute later came a rare chance for Shields which saw David Foley find space inside the area but his effort was superbly blocked by a sprawling defender.
The game had taken on a end to end feel at this point and on 34 minutes Nadat thought he had given the hosts the lead however only a great save from Connell denied the forwards curling effort, this after the ball had been given away by the visitors, and a couple of minutes later up the other end the ball broke to Michael Richardson inside the hosts box, but he failed to hit the target, hitting wide of the near post.
Coleshill had created the better chances in the opening half though and just as you thought they would go in without anything to show for it they found a breakthough right on half time as a cross from the left saw a Nadat effort saved by Connell from point blank range, but the ball came back to Nadat who buried the rebound and celebrated with the fans behind that goal. It was a deserved lead for the hosts and Shields knew they were in a game for sure.
Half Time Coleshill Town 1 South Shields 0
The visitors knew they had to come out and take the game to their opponents and two minutes into the half they found an equaliser as the dangerous Foley managed to get on the end of a cross and net a close range rebound after keeper Paul Hathaway had saved initially, and roared on by 500-600 Shields fans the visitors had their tails up and Richardson headed wide of the far post as they went for the lead.
The hosts managed to whether that storm though and started to threaten themselves again, and on the hour mark saw a cross catch keeper Connell out and the ball come off the woodwork and then four minutes later another good save at the near post from Shields Connell kept out a free kick from Thomas Weale.
With twenty minutes left a great ball found Shields sub Carl Finnigan whose effort was well saved by Paul Hathaway and then the hosts came so close to taking the lead once again a minute later when they thumped an effort against the inside of the post and then saw the ball fly across goal and headed off the line by a very fortunate Shields.
In the 77th minute the hosts got away with one when keeper Hathaway came out and miskicked a clearance straight to Richardson, and with the keeper in no man’s land Richardson returned an effort towards the empty net but it bounced inches wide of the post.
It had certainly been a battle and a half out there and you thought could their be a late twist in this one? Well just as the game ticked over the 90 minute mark Shields managed to find a huge goal in this tie as Foley drove into the area, crossed to Darren Lough, whose effort hit Andrew Stephenson from a yard out and went into the net to send the visitors fans crazy.
Coleshill tried to find a late late leveller but found the Shields defence solid and the referee finally ended the game after several minutes of injury time and the visitors continued that winning run although more importantly took a lead back to Mariners Park for the second leg in a weeks time.
Defeat was tough on the hosts however they showed more than enough in this one that they can cause many issues for the North East side and an early goal in the second leg from Coleshill could unsettle the favourites so this one is far from over!!!
Full Time Coleshill Town 1 South Shields 2
Here are some photos from the day:-
And here are some video highlights:-
Right here is a round up of the other Semi Final First Leg tie:-
Saturday 11th March
Bromsgrove Sporting 1 Cleethorpes Town 1
It's still all to play for in this Last Four encounter after the sides played out a 1-1 draw in which was a game of two halves as Cleethorpes fought back against the host’s in the second half to leave the tie finally balanced ahead the second leg on 18th March. A crowd of 3349 packed into The Victoria Ground and saw the hosts kick downhill on the slope on the pitch, which Cleethorpes appeared to struggle on as the hosts dominated the first half. Cleethorpes had a warning in the opening minutes as a free kick into the box saw Cowley head over inside the penalty area. Another let off for Cleethorpes saw Cowley again charge down a clearance from Higton in the Cleethorpes goal to put the ball in the net but was disallowed as the referee gave a foul as Cowley handballed as he charged down the ball. It was third time lucky for the Sporting attacker has he met a ball from the bye line to head home as the home crowd went wild. Cleethorpes were trying to get forward on the counter attack but the better chances were coming to Sporting as they continued to press forward as they had control of the half, despite the efforts of Cleethorpes but just before the break a ball from wide saw the ball find Marc Cooper who’s effort was blocked in front of goal. The second half saw Cleethorpes come out and gradually take control and it was not long until they found the equaliser as Oglesby slipped the ball into the path of Lowe who drove to the bye line and his ball across the face of goal was knocked home by the unfortunate Edwards to score a own goal. Cleethorpes continued to grow into the game as second half sub Richardson connected well to force a fine save from the Sporting keeper. At the other end the Cleethorpes defence were proving there worth as they were repelling any attacks from the hosts. Cleethorpes so nearly won it as Winn's ball through to Cooper saw the latter advance to strike the ball, but a last ditch challenge sent the ball away from the goal for a corner. However it's all to play for in the second leg next weekend.
So both ties were evenly poised going into the second legs, here is the tie I went to up in the North East:-
South Shields 4 Coleshill Town 0, Buildbase FA Vase Semi Final Second Leg, Saturday 18th March 2017 (South Shields won 6-1 on aggregate)
So this was it, one of these teams were potentially ninety minutes away from Wembley as the FA Vase Semi Final 2nd Legs were upon us.
And I was at a packed Mariners Park as a record crowd of 3,464 were their to see who would prevail between South Shields and Coleshill Town.
Most of them were of course cheering on the local side who held a 2-1 lead from the first leg at Coleshills Pack Meadow the weekend before so the North East side were favourites to progress. However an early goal for the visitors could swing the tie still so it was all to play for.
The hosts though were keen to put any thoughts of a visitors comeback to bed early on and launched an early attack in the 2nd minute which saw a ball into the box just about dealt with by a stretched Coleshill backline.
And in the 10th minute the hosts came oh so close to getting that early goal when a deflected effort came back off the bar and then five minutes later an almighty scramble inside the visitors box saw an effort blocked before a relived visiting defence finally cleared their lines.
Coleshill managed to whether this early storm though and tried to mount an attack of their own in the 19th minute and a great ball forward almost had them in but hosts keeper Connell and a defender just did enough to thwart striker Jordan Nadat as he threatened to put the visitors ahead.
The game settled down somewhat after this and the next chance arrived just past the half hour mark when Shields got in down the right but the ball across saw a miskicked finish roll through to the keeper before the visitors went very close to taking the lead nine minutes before the break when a decent effort from inside the box was brilliantly tipped over by Connell.
So the tie was still very much in the balance as the game approached half time but then came a big moment as the hosts managed to find that all important goal as in the 45th minute a ball laid across to Julio Arca saw the ex Sunderland and Middlesbrough midfielder crack home a superb left footed effort from twenty yards and send the home fans and players wild with delight.
Shields suddenly had their tails up again and almost netted again moments later but saw David Foley hit an effort into the side netting. However it was a big blow to visitors Coleshill to concede so late on in the half and they now had a two goal deficit to overcome in the tie in one half of football.
Half Time South Shields 1 Coleshill Town 0 (aggregate 3-1)
The opening ten minutes or so of the second period yielded no real chances as Shields looked to keep the visitors quiet whilst the Coleshill boys desperately sought a route back into the tie. Just before the hour mark Shields saw a great run by Arca into the box eventually result in an effort being saved by keeper Hathaways before the loose ball was squeezed away as the hosts looked to finish the tie once and for all.
And sure enough in the 62nd minute they did just that as Gav Cogdon beat the offside trap and duly lofted a beautiful finish over keeper Hathaway and cue more celebrations as the knew they were pretty much on their way to Wembley now after opening up a three goal cushion on aggregate.
Coleshill to their credit kept fighting though as they knew a quick couple of goals back would possibly change the entire mood of the tie and with just over twenty minutes left a harmless ball towards the hosts back post almost crept inside the near post but keeper Connell managed to palm the ball wide and preserve the hosts clean sheet and three goal cushion.
With ten minutes left the hosts sent a free header from a corner go straight at keeper Hathaway and as time began to wind down Shields threatened more goals and with two minutes left a terrific ball into the visitors box saw a brilliant save from visiting keeper Hathaway which even the referee clapped!!
And just over a minute later Shields did find a third when substitute Finnigan added the finishing touches to another sweeping move from the hosts as the visitors looked tired after giving their all in this one.
And in stoppage time their waw enough time for Shields to put the gloss on the scoreline when Foley burst through to add a fourth and send the hosts through to the Wembley final in May in style.
It was harsh on the visitors who more than competed over the two legs and so the 6-1 aggregate score doesn’t really tell you how hard Shields had to work in these two games. But they took chances at crucial moments in the two games which is what champions do and they now have a Wembley date in May to look forward to.
Full Time South Shields 4 Coleshill Town 0 (aggregate 6-1)
Here are some photos of the day:-
And video highlights:-
Right here is how the other semi final second leg fared:-
Cleethorpes Town 1 Bromsgrove Sporting 0 (Cleethorpes Town won 2-1 on aggregate)
It was a day that saw Cleethorpes Town reach Wembley as they overcame Bromsgrove Sporting in the 2nd leg of the FA Vase on Saturday. The start was perfect as a deep ball found King who held off two defenders to lob superbly from the edge of the area past the despairing dive of the Bromsgrove Keeper as the start caught the visitors out. Higton in the Cleethorpes net had to be alert as he gathered a long range shot as both sides were battling for every ball. Cooper connected as the ball came into the area but his header flashed inches wide as Cleethorpes where doing their up most to extend the lead. The game was a battle in midfield as both sides battled to gain the ascendancy. Cleethorpes had make a change as Richardson had to leave the field through injury as Dickens replaced him. The game reached half time with Cleethorpes knowing they were half way there to making history for the club. The start of the second half took a while to settle down as Bromsgrove’s Conway got behind the Cleethorpes Defence as he lifted the ball over the advancing Higton but also over the crossbar as Bromsgrove sounded the alarm bells for Cleethorpes. Higton had to be alert from two free kicks, though the efforts where straight into the keeper’s arms as set pieces where looking like the only way the visitors would score. The other end Cooper saw an effort flash wide and from a corner Bloomer headed just wide. Cleethorpes saw second half substitute Andy Taylor use his pace as he burst ahead of the Bromsgrove defence only to be beaten to the ball by the visitor’s keeper. Cleethorpes were showing all their guile as they achieved the unthinkable to reach the FA Vase final, as wild celebrations began as the crowd of 1154 may not of seen the best of games but they witnessed history being made.
So the May 21st final sees Cleethorpes Town meet South Shields at Wembley on Non League Finals Day. Proves to be another good day no doubt.
