BIRSTALL UNITED (Meadow Lane)

FA VASE 2nd QUALIFYING ROUND, BIRSTALL UNITED 2-2 MALVERN TOWN (AET) ATTENDANCE: 120

Once the dust had settled on the draw for the 2nd Qualifying round of the FA Vase, I was looking for something within a couple of hours of home. I was immediately drawn to the tie between Birstall United and Malvern Town, because cards on the table, and I am ever so sorry, but I had never heard of Birstall United!

I sought out the most basic of facts that the club a based in Leicestershire, a few miles north of the city centre and play their home games at Meadow Lane (no, not that Meadow Lane). So I decided to point the car in the direction of Leicester for my latest instalment on the road to Wembley!

The club was founded in 1961 by a group of youngsters. They chose their name 'United' after picking the best players from the teams run by Birstall British Legion and Birstall Social Club.
The club initially played Sunday league football in the Leicester & District League but by the end of the decade they switched to Saturday football, eventually joining Division Two of the Leicestershire Senior League in 1976.

The club play at Meadow Lane, which is adjacent to Watermead Park, a series of old gravel pits that have been turned into lakes. Only two sides of the ground are open. There is a seated stand alongside the pitch and a covered terrace behind the goal. There are also signs of building work as the club continue to develop the ground. There is a clubhouse, which was doing a roaring trade today with Leicester City being the early Sky TV game.

After plenty of near misses, Birstall United were crowned Leicester Senior League champions in 2016 (I wonder if their odds were 5000/1 at the start of the season?) and therefore promoted to the East Midlands Counties League.

Attention today turned to the FA Vase where Birstall were facing another step 6 side, Malvern Town of the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division. Birstall were looking to reach the first round proper for the first time since 2007. Their best run in Vase came in 1997/98 when the club reached the 4th round before losing to Spalding United.

Birstall drew first blood in this tie when a defensive miscommunication between goalkeeper and defender resulted in Jamie Smith (4) heading the ball into his own net.

Malvern played the more controlled football in the opening half and it was no surprise when Nathan Hughes (18) brought them level with a bullet header.

The game was much even in the second half but it was Malvern who created the better opportunities. They hit the post and had a goal disallowed for a supposed foul on the goalkeeper. Malvern eventually nudged themselves in front in the 75th minutes when Dave Reynolds blasted home from just inside the box.

However the lead though only lasted a matter of seconds as straight from the kick off the ball went out wide and the resulting cross was headed home by Lewis Dodd to bring Birstall level.

With the tie level at 90 minutes, and with the agreement of both clubs, an extra 30 minutes was played but ,despite the game becoming more stretched as the players became weary, no winning goal could be found. The teams will replay at Malvern on Wednesday night.