NEWPORT PAGNELL TOWN (Willen Road)

FA VASE 4th ROUND, NEWPORT PAGNELL TOWN 3-1 FAKENHAM TOWN, ATTENDANCE: 616

I left the north, I travelled south, as the FA Vase reached the 4th round stage. Perusing the fixtures this was the tie that stood out like a sore thumb. Ground needed. Check. Teams from different leagues. Check. Huge anticipation from both clubs and supporters. Check. In the end it was a no-brainer to go online, buy a ticket and head to Willen Road.

Traffic was kind and I arrived in Buckinghamshire in good time,  so there was time a pre-match stroll into town and to take a walk over the cast iron Tickford Bridge, which has stood over the River Ouzell since 1810 (pictured below). Of course the name Newport Pagnell was famously put on the map in 1960 when Newport Pagnell Services became the first fully open motorway service station in the UK.

 Tickford Bridge  

The Football Club was founded in 1963 as Newport Pagnell Wanderers and set up home at Willen Road in 1972, when they changed their name to Town. The club has spent most of it's history playing in either the United Counties League (UCL) or the Spartan South Midlands League. This season they are competing in the UCL Premier South, where they are currently in the top three.

Newport Pagnell Town were looking for another deep run in the Vase, to hopefully surpass their best performance of reaching the quarter finals back in 2016 (where they lost to eventual winners South Shields) whilst opponents Fakenham Town, of the Eastern Counties League, were looking to reach the 5th round for the first time in their history, having fell at this 4th round stage last season.

This tie certainly caught the imagination of both sets of supporters with a 600+ plus crowd in attendance, including a coach load from Norfolk. The clubhouse was doing a roaring trade and I just had to partake in a pint of ale from a brewery (Phipps) from 18 miles up the road. Very nice!

The game got off to a lightning fast start with Newport finding themselves 2-0 up after just seven minutes. After four minutes, a corner was flicked on to the far post where Jordan Wright, was able to get ahead of his marker to sidefoot into the roof of the net. Then, after seven minutes, a ball into the box was headed on into the path of Danny Webb and his looping header went over Fakenham 'keeper Tom Coombe and into the goal.

The Ghosts eventually composed themselves and worked their way back into the game, creating a few chances but none which truly tested Swans 'keeper Martin Conway, but Newport had chances on the counter attack including one effort which clipped the crossbar.

Fakenham came out for the second half and looked determined to get themselves back into the tie. After 56 minutes they finally got their reward when Josh Hazell scrambled the ball over the line. Game on! Well that was the thought but in truth the game petered out and an equaliser didn’t seem likely.

There were a couple of minutes remaining when Ghosts midfielder Lewis Sturnam was sent-off after receiving his second yellow card. This sealed Fakenham's fate and with the last action of the game Mo Ahmed rounded Tom Coombe to score a third for The Swans and to cue the start of the celebrations.

A very good day in Newport Pagnell. And I never lost my bag...

The half-time cakes were delicious 😋