Saturday 17th
March – First Leg
Thatcham Town 1 1874
Northwich 0
Ross Cook's early penalty saw the
hosts win this first leg tie against 1874 Northwich and take a slender lead up
to Cheshire for the second leg next weekend.
Both teams were welcomed onto the field by a good crowd of 1,134, with a few hundred noisy visiting fans making up that figure, as they and the players endured snowy freezing conditions at Waterside Park.
And Thatcham took the game to their opponents early on and were awarded a fourth minute penalty after a clear foul inside the box, and Cook stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way and the Berkshire hosts had the perfect start to this one.
The home side continued to have the better of the opening exchanges and saw a couple of efforts go straight at the keeper, and it took the visitors the best part of fifteen minutes to register their first attempt at goal, forcing a decent save from the hosts keeper.
In the 21st minute the visitors were screaming for a spot kick of their own after they claimed a foul inside the box, however the referee waived their claims away, although from my angle it looked like a foul.
The visitors by now were having a decent spell and putting plenty of pressure on the home side, but they couldn't find a way past a solid Thatcham back line.
And after a ten minute spell from the visitors, the hosts almost doubled their lead in the 34th minute but saw a decent curling effort tipped wide by the keeper.
A couple of minutes after that a defensive mistake from the hosts almost saw Northwich level in comical circumstances, when a clearence struck a defender and almost went in, before two minutes after that the Northwich keeper had to make a brilliant save to deny the hosts again.
The hosts then saw another effort go straight at the keeper before Northwich had a great chance to level three minutes before the break when they found themselves in on goal, but saw the keeper save with his legs and thwart them.
The hosts then missed a golden chance right on half time, seeing the keeper save with his legs and the ball shoot across goal agonisingly just ahead of players coming in for a tap in. It did mean the hosts went into the break a goal ahead.
Half Time Thatcham Town 1 1874 Northwich 0
The hosts started the second period much like the first, on the front foot, but they were unable to take advantage of this pressure put on the Northwich goal.
In fact the visitors hardly threatened the Thatcham net until midway through the half, although it was a decent opening which saw the keeper make a pretty good stop to keep the hosts in front.
The second half in general though was fairly quiet and and scrappy, with not alot of quality on show, although with what was on the line, this wasn't entirely surprising. The conditions were not helping much either, with the occasional blizzard making things interesting to say the least.
With several minutes remaining the visitors started the put some pressure on the Thatcham backline and did see a free header loop wide of the target, however they didn't really test the keeper and after that Thatcham saw out the remainder of the contest to take the victory.
Not the best of games to be honest, but it's a one goal lead for Thatcham to take up to Cheshire next weekend, with the tie far from over. Should be another tightly fought contest no doubt.
Full Time Thatcham Town 1 1874 Northwich 0
Both teams were welcomed onto the field by a good crowd of 1,134, with a few hundred noisy visiting fans making up that figure, as they and the players endured snowy freezing conditions at Waterside Park.
And Thatcham took the game to their opponents early on and were awarded a fourth minute penalty after a clear foul inside the box, and Cook stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way and the Berkshire hosts had the perfect start to this one.
The home side continued to have the better of the opening exchanges and saw a couple of efforts go straight at the keeper, and it took the visitors the best part of fifteen minutes to register their first attempt at goal, forcing a decent save from the hosts keeper.
In the 21st minute the visitors were screaming for a spot kick of their own after they claimed a foul inside the box, however the referee waived their claims away, although from my angle it looked like a foul.
The visitors by now were having a decent spell and putting plenty of pressure on the home side, but they couldn't find a way past a solid Thatcham back line.
And after a ten minute spell from the visitors, the hosts almost doubled their lead in the 34th minute but saw a decent curling effort tipped wide by the keeper.
A couple of minutes after that a defensive mistake from the hosts almost saw Northwich level in comical circumstances, when a clearence struck a defender and almost went in, before two minutes after that the Northwich keeper had to make a brilliant save to deny the hosts again.
The hosts then saw another effort go straight at the keeper before Northwich had a great chance to level three minutes before the break when they found themselves in on goal, but saw the keeper save with his legs and thwart them.
The hosts then missed a golden chance right on half time, seeing the keeper save with his legs and the ball shoot across goal agonisingly just ahead of players coming in for a tap in. It did mean the hosts went into the break a goal ahead.
Half Time Thatcham Town 1 1874 Northwich 0
The hosts started the second period much like the first, on the front foot, but they were unable to take advantage of this pressure put on the Northwich goal.
In fact the visitors hardly threatened the Thatcham net until midway through the half, although it was a decent opening which saw the keeper make a pretty good stop to keep the hosts in front.
The second half in general though was fairly quiet and and scrappy, with not alot of quality on show, although with what was on the line, this wasn't entirely surprising. The conditions were not helping much either, with the occasional blizzard making things interesting to say the least.
With several minutes remaining the visitors started the put some pressure on the Thatcham backline and did see a free header loop wide of the target, however they didn't really test the keeper and after that Thatcham saw out the remainder of the contest to take the victory.
Not the best of games to be honest, but it's a one goal lead for Thatcham to take up to Cheshire next weekend, with the tie far from over. Should be another tightly fought contest no doubt.
Full Time Thatcham Town 1 1874 Northwich 0
Here are some photos
of the day:-
Right up in the North
East Marske United and Stockton Town, two sides separated by just 17 miles,
went head to head in the other semi final first leg, although due to problems
with the Marske United pitch both ties would take place at on Stockton’s 3G
surface, so here is how the first leg panned out:-
Marske United 0
Stockton Town 2
Stockton netted two
first half goals to take a two goal lead into the second leg next weekend as
they stunned tournament favourites Marske United. Stockton got themselves in front after just
11 minutes as a Kevin Hayes free-kick was nodded home by Jamie Owens. The
Seasiders looked for an instant impact and almost had their reward as Craig
Gott’s free-kick was superbly saved by goalkeeper Michael Arthur. Marske
continued to bang on the door as a long range effort by Chay Liddle was well
saved by Arthur yet again before they then hit the woodwork. But Stockton then
hit their opponents with a sucker punch to double their lead three minutes
before the break as Fred Woodhouse turned home from close range. Despite the
best efforts of Marske in the second half including a golden opportunity for
Gott who sliced wide late on, Stockton held out to seal a crucial 2-0 away
victory.
So Thatcham Town and
Stockton Town hold the first leg advantages, Thatcham taking a one goal lead up
to Cheshire whilst Stockton carry a two goal cushion into the second game at
Bishopton Road West. No doubt 1874
Northwich and current tournament favourites Marske United would of fancied to
overturn those first leg deficits so it proved to be an exciting second leg weekend.
Right here is how my featured tie fared in the
second leg up in Cheshire:-
1874 Northwich 2 Thatcham Town 3 (Thatcham Town won 4-2 on aggregate)
Two Gavin James
strikes in the opening half hour helped Thatcham Town to victory in their
second leg tie at Wincham Park against 1874 Northwich to complete an aggregate
victory and take their place in Wembley’s finale in May.
The tie sat in the
balance after Thatcham’s narrow first leg victory, although the Berkshire side
felt they could have had a bigger lead, however it meant an early goal for
either side would be all important to see where this tie would end up.
After a delayed kick
off due to the amount of fans trying to get into the ground, Thatcham wasted
little time in extending that aggregate lead as, just like the first leg, took
an early lead and this time in was in just the second minute as James slotted
home inside the area after Cooper-Clark had delivered a free-kick into the
area. It was the perfect start for the
visitors.
Northwich earned a
corner soon after but this was cleared and the opening ten minutes saw the visitors
frustrate their opponents, blocking passing options although apart from the
early goal, neither side created anything clear cut.
But that all changed
midway through the half when Thatcham were in dreamland, adding a second on the
day and going three clear on aggregate, when James got his second after a
goalmouth scramble following a Melledew corner, and the hosts now had a mountain
to climb.
The visitors were
now in total control and full of confidence and saw Ekow Elliott go close with
a right footed curler from a James knockdown, and then from another attack
Moran headed a Melledew free-kick wide, and then James was just about thwarted
when attempting to round the keeper, before Melledew struck an effort wide from
distance.
You felt if Thatcham
added another, the tie would be over, so it was imperative that Northwich
grabbed the next goal. As the half
entered its latter stages 1874 began to have a spell of pressure on the
visitors, although the visitors were still dangerous in attack and saw Elliott
thread a through ball to James but his effort went wide.
Northwich then went
close to grabbing that all important goal but saw a fine save from Rackley and
then heroic defending from Angell and Elliott, however just before the break
1874 were given a lifeline after Elliott was adjudged to have fouled inside the
box, and McGowan stepped up to convert and this tie suddenly took on a
different look.
1874 then forced a
number of corners in first half stoppage time as they tried to level the tie on
the day and get to just one behind on aggregate, however the visitors managed
to weather the storm of corners and get to the break ahead on the day and two
ahead on aggregate.
Half Time 1874 Northwich 1 Thatcham Town 2
1874 knew if they
could grab a quick goal this tie was right back in the balance once again, and initially
they began the second period how the ended the first, but in the 48th
minute Thatcham totally knocked the wind out of their sails by adding a third
on the day when Cooper-Clark smashed home from the edge of the area, and it
meant the Berkshire side had a three goal aggregate lead once again.
The hosts again had
a mountain to climb but did force a point blank save from Rackley before Miller
coolly took a touch before clearing any danger, and then the hosts broke at
pace and saw Rackley come out to snuff any danger of a second for the hosts.
Northwich continued
to try and grab that second goal to reduce the lead and saw McGowan wriggle
into the box but saw Jarra made an important interception to thwart the danger,
but with just over twenty minutes remaining 1874 did find a second goal to
reduce the aggregate lead to two when Woolley, who was immediately subbed
afterwards much to his bemusement, headed home a corner and the hosts had
around twenty minutes to find two goals to force extra time.
However despite
Rackley having to make a comfortable save from outside the box and the visitors
having to withstand some late Northwich pressure, they saw out the remainder of
the contest to book their place in May’s final.
Cue celebrations amongst the visiting players, fans and management,
their off to Wembley!!!
Commiserations to
1874 Northwich though, who did well to get this far, and they now have
promotion to go for now in their own league, so all the best to them for
that. Today though belongs to Thatcham
Town, well done!!!
Full Time 1874 Northwich 2 Thatcham Town 3 (Thatcham Town won 4-2 on aggregate)
Here are some photos of the second leg, courtesy of
Alex Latham (@bigalex1984):-
So who would take on Thatcham Town in the final,
well lets see what happened in the other tie up in the North East:-
Stockton Town 1 Marske United 2 (Stockton Town won 3-2 on aggregate)
After a crucial 2-0 victory in the first leg, Stockton knew their rivals
Marske would come out and attack from the word go at Bishopton Road West. And the visitors
made the perfect start after just eight minutes when forward Liam O’Sullivan
did superbly to bring the ball down and slot home inside the penalty box.
O’Sullivan was causing all sorts of problems, not
only with his forward play but his long throws into the box as Micky Arthur
denied Danny Early from close range. Stockton
restored their two-goal advantage in the tie from the penalty spot as Nathan
Mulligan fired into the net after 41 minutes after a foul on Kevin Hayes.
Marske needed two goals in the second half and
after 55 minutes were back in the contest as a fine break was rounded off by
James Fairley. The visitors would’ve had
their crucial third goal but for a sensational one-handed save from Arthur to
deny Curtis Round. And the Anchors held on
to secure their spot in the final and a maiden trip to the home of football.
So after two
dramatic semi final ties, there were just two remaining, and its Stockton Town
Vs Thatcham Town, Northern League Division One Vs Hellenic Premier, at Wembley
in the FA Vase final on Non League Finals Day, Sunday 20th May. Stockton may go into this one as favourites
only due to the fact the Northern League sides have dominated in the Vase over
the past decade or so, however Thatcham are a more than decent side and will be
more than capable of winning this competition.
Make sure you check out my blog after finals day to see a report and
photos from the game, it proves to be a decent one!!!
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