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.

St ANDREWS F.C (Canal Street)

FA VASE QUARTER FINAL, St ANDREWS 1-0 NEWCASTLE BENFIELD, ATTENDANCE: 1,279

After failing to secure a ticket for the Arsenal v Everton FA Cup tie, due to The Blues not receiving their full 15% entitlement under FA rules (The Gooners hid behind some faceless Supporters Advisory Group to reduce Everton's allocation to 5,000 on the grounds of Health and Safety, as they did with Spurs and Liverpool but funnily enough not with Coventry) I had to look elsewhere for some cup action today.

This led me to Aylestone,  a suburb of Leicester, where East Midlands Counties League side St Andrews were taking on Northern League side Newcastle Benfield in the last eight of the FA Vase.  I can't be certain where St Andrews FC get their name from, but the Parish Church in Aylestone is called St Andrews.

St Andrews were making history today with their first ever appearance in the Quarter Finals after defeating Clipstone, Lincoln Moorlands Railway, Brocton, Bolehall Swifts, AFC Rushden & Diamonds and East Preston en route whilst Newcastle reached this stage of the competition by beating Vase holders Spennymoor in round five.

   

The club had given this tie maximum publicity, it certainly caught the imagination of the locals, and the club were rewarded with a four-figure crowd for, what I can only assume, is their best attendance in their 41 year history. It was certainly more than the 38 who watched them beat Anstey Nomads 4-2 on Tuesday night. The club also maximised today's opportunity by having scarves and special 'FA Vase 2014' badges on sale amongst the usual football fayre.

It was an incredibly tough ask for St Andrews as Northern League teams have dominated this competition in recent seasons and Benfield are playing at a step higher than their hosts.

Nonetheless St Andrews managed a superb display to book their place in the last four and continue their historic journey. The result though was down to dogged determination rather than free flowing football as the hosts stopped Newcastle Benfield getting a foothold in the game and taking their chance when when it came. The St Andrews defence were magnificent, their No5 especially, and Benfield were restricted to few opportunities.

The visitors did have the ball in the net in the first half, though that was ruled out for offside, but it was the home side who took the lead after 57 minutes when Declan Towers headed home, the ball creeping over the line. Benfield nearly levelled straight away but the ball was scrambled off the line by a Drews defender. They also had a chance late on, but the ball was headed over, however St Andrews had done more than enough to clinch the tie.

There were jubilant scenes at the end of the game as the players were mobbed on the pitch, the Leicestershire side now just two games from a trip to Wembley. They will meet another Northern league side, West Auckland Town, in the two-legged Semi Final. Who would bet against them getting there now?

ANSTEY NOMADS (Cropston Road)

EAST MIDLANDS COUNTIES LEAGUE, ANSTEY NOMADS 0-4 IBSTOCK UNITED, ATTENDANCE: 82

For my final game of Easter Monday it was a trip up the motorway to Leicestershire for Anstey Nomads' evening clash with Ibstock United.



No need to apologise to me!

The board advertising the game outside the ground had an apology for the late kick off!

I have no idea why this game was an evening kick when the rest of the league played at 3pm, but I was very grateful as I allowed me to complete a cheeky treble. 

Founded in 1947, Anstey Nomads spent many seasons in the Leicestershire Senior League before winning promotion to the East Midlands Counties League in 2009. Cropston Road has been their home since their formation.

The game was your cliched "relegation six pointer" as both teams are near the foot of the table.

Ibstock United did not look like a team struggling near the bottom as they comprehensively outclassed their hosts. ex-Anstey player Chris Rudkin gave United the lead after 30 minutes when he prodded home from inside the box. A sensational long range strike from Carl Benson (40) doubled the visitors advantage.

It was Adam Joynson who added a third after 50 minutes before Benson's second after 65 minutes completed the scoring.

There were a few other local 'hoppers' present and speaking to one who told me that Ibstock have linked up with a local academy to provide game time for young players. Their team certainly impressed me this evening and they would appear to have enough to beat the drop.

I wish I could say the same regards Anstey who, after 8 game without a win, look like returning to the Leicestershire Senior League, I stand to be proved wrong.

An enjoyable game brought a conclusion to yet another mad Easter Weekend!!!