FA Trophy Extra Preliminary Round 28th September 2019
North Leigh 3 – 4 Basingstoke Town Attendance 82
Where: The Eynsham Hall Sports Ground, North Leigh,
Finally A Cup And First Win of the season
Dan Brownlie’s second game in charge gave him a starting line-up of : 1.Chris Rackley, 2. Alfie Saunders 3. Ryan Suckling, 4. Ben Cook, 5.Reuben Collins, 6. Scott Armsworth, 7. Claudio Herbert, 8. Harrison Cliff 9. Ben Wright (Capt), 10. Zach Robinson, 11. Adam Everiss,
On the bench; Aiden Harris, Mikey Davis, Reece Rusher, D’Andre Brown and Riccardo Andrady
On a day when the Stoke fans outnumbered the home fans and with Stoke kicking up the very noticeable slope the game got underway at 2.57pm it was Stoke who have the first chance as North Leigh have picked up that bug of playing it out from the back and lose the ball to Everiss, who slides it inside to Zach Robinson who then slides it back to Everiss who tries to chip the keeper, but can only find the roof of the net.
On 4 mins we win a free-kick about 35yds out, and the kick if blocked by the wall and rolls to the keeper, he then tries an plays it out again to his defence and we intercept the ball and the ball falls to Wright who takes too many touches and the keeper dives at his feet to recover the ball. Within the same minute we attack down the left and win another free-kick. Ben Cook floats in a cross and a Stoke head knocks it over the bar.
On 5 mins and its North Leigh’s first chance as they break from a poor pass by Cook and they take three passes and are down our left where their forwards cuts inside and luckily his shot flies wide of the far post.
On 9 mins we win another free kick about 26yds out directly in front of goal. Whilst the BTG are telling the keeper which corner Wright’s going to put it in, Ben chips it to the left where an over lapping Adam Everiss has beaten his defender and he volleys it into the six yard box where Zach Robinson is first to it and he volleys it home into the roof of the net. GOAL! North Leigh 0 – 1 Basingstoke Town
On 10 mins we lose the ball in midfield again and Chris Rackley comes to our rescue with a diving save.
On 14 mins a further attack by North Leigh produces two shots, the second one from a corner hits Wright and the referee gives a penalty for handball. It’s slotted away as the forward sends Rackley the wrong way, as he puts it to the left hand side of the goal. North Leigh 1 – 1 Basingstoke.
We are back on it just two minutes later as Robinson is put through, who beats off a challenge by his defender and fires a shot from about 18yds that flies just high and wide of the near post and hits the roof of the small stand behind the goal.
On 22 mins we win another free-kick about 30yds, which Everiss sends in a curling kick, that a North Leigh defender knocks it over his own bar. The corner taken from Everiss is punched clear by the keeper, but we retrieve the ball and Claudio Herbert is fouled just outside the box. The keeper uncertain of what Wright will do is left leaden footed, as Wright smashes the ball against the face of the crossbar and flies clear towards the corner flag, but Collins makes a late sliding tackle on the defender trying to clear the ball and he goes in the book.
On 26 mins we go behind after the home side win back-to-back corners. The second one is dropped by Rackley and the ball is thundered against the bar and a further shot hits a Stoke player and the referee gives another penalty for hand-ball. This time it’s slotted down the middle past Rackley.
On 33 mins Saunders then gets injured following a heavy tackle, the ref waves play on and the home side break and the ball is switched to the right, where a shot hits the side netting.
On 36 mins we should 3 -1 down as the slice open our defence and their No.9 goes around Rackley takes one touch but then shoots it against the foot of the post with the goal wide open.
On 37 mins a nice move by Stoke leaves the ball at the feet of Herbert, but he wants to beat the whole defence and the ball rolls to Wright, he then doesn’t shoot, and he takes two touches and the ball falls back to Herbert and his shot is blocked.
On 39 mins and the home side break again this time down our left and the ball is passed across the face of the goal, where their forward can’t get a touch on it and we are able to clear.
On 41 mins we attack again and there are calls for our own penalty, but the shot from Wright flies out for a corner. The Everiss corner goes to the far post where a wide-open Robinson heads if five yards wide of the far post. That should have been the equaliser.
On 43 mins further good work by Stoke find Robinson just outside the box, who takes a quick shot, trying to catch the keeper off guard, but it’s not hit well and its comfortably saved by the keeper.
On 45 mins, we win another corner, which the keeper again punches clear and they break, and a slick three-pass move leads to a North Leigh forward shooting from 23yds, which looks to have Rackley beaten but fortunately slides just past the far post.
The referee blows for halftime with us trailing 2-1.
The second-half gets underway and North Leigh have the first chance following a free-kick about 25yds out, it is clipped to the far post where Armsworth heads clear but straight to one of their players who fires a shot over the bar.
We then go further behind as North Leigh break and the ball is slotted out to the left where Saunders blocks the ball out for a corner. The cross is met by a one of their players who heads it at Rackley who can only half save it and the ball rolls into the back of the net.
We have an attack on 54 mins, but the shot is half blocked by Wright and the ball rolls to the keeper.
The next few minutes see further attacks by North Leigh, one which is saved by Rackley another that hits the far post and bounces away.
On 59 mins we win a corner down the right after good work from Harrison Cliff. The corner causes havoc in their box and it’s Armsworth who finally gets a shot away which beats two defenders on the line. GOAL!! North Leigh 3 – 2 Basingstoke Town.
Stoke make their first change on 62 minutes hour with Riccardo Andrady replacing Ryan Suckling.
We then break from a North Leigh attack and it’s Riccardo who feeds Robinson whose shot somehow beats the keeper between his legs, and we are level GOAL!!! North Leigh 3 – 3 Basingstoke Town.
A further attack by North Leigh is well blocked by Armsworth and we look to break, but a tackle on Everiss brings a halt to the game.
The next few minutes has us breaking down the right through Cliff and Andrady who clearly has made the difference and a cross fails to find a Stoke player.
Then a scything tackle by a Stoke defender goes unpunished as the ref plays on and when the game does finally stop, he still doesn’t book our defender.
On 73 mins we have the lead as good work down the left allows Robinson to cross to Wright who heads it home. GOAL !!!! North Leigh 3 – 4 Basingstoke Town.
On 76 mins another good cross from Andrady is headed out for a corner. Nothing comes from the corner-kick.
On 79 mins the home team have a chance but Rackley makes a fine save down to his left.
On 81 mins they win a dodgy free-kick on the edge of the box, but we are able to clear.
On 82 mins it’s Herbert who fires a shot five yards over the bar from 30yds out.
Wright then wins a free-kick on the edge of the ball as he gets clipped twice. The kick from Herbert is well punched clear by the keeper.
The next few minutes become a midfield battle with neither team creating a chance until Andrady breaks down the right and finds a wide open Robinson who has time to take it down, but his half-volley flies over the bar.
We are now entering added time, and we are playing it down the right and Andrady wins a corner. The corner is taken short to waste a bit of time is easily lost and they break but a good sliding tackle by Saunders stops their attack.
We make our second substitution with Ben Cook being replaced by D’Andre Brown.
The game is now four minutes into injury-time and the ref does not want to blow the whistle., even after a shot from Saunders on 95 mins, flies high over the bar.
On 96 mins we give away a free-kick for a weak tackle. The cross is cleared, and we break down the right with Andrady, but the ball rolls out.
We are now seven yes 7 minutes into injury-time, but the referee who has been pretty poor keeps telling their No.6 there is still time to play.
YES the referee finally blows the final whistle and we have our first win of the season and the players celebrate behind the goal with the BTG.
Final Score: North Leigh 3 – 4 Basingstoke Town
Match Report by Martin French..
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