CHORLEY FC (Victory Park)

FA CUP 2ND QUALIFYING ROUND REPLAY, CHORLEY 3-1 RUNCORN LINNETS, ATTENDANCE: 603

As it was nearly 18 years since my last visit to Victory Park (when I saw Chorley lose a Boxing Day derby 1-0 to Bamber Bridge) I decided tonight was the perfect opportunity for a revisit. I'm happy to report that in the days of Arena stands and 3G cages, Victory Park still remains a proper ground and full of character.

Chorley began life as a Rugby club in 1875 but switched to football in 1883. Victory Park has been home since 1920 and was named to commemorate the end of the First World War.

Chorley are mainstays of the National League North, the second tier of non-league football, and regularly make the end of season play-offs, though they have only won them once, back in 2019, to earn promotion to the National League. Of course, season 2019/20 then ended early due to the covid pandemic and Chorley were relegated back to the National North on a points-per-game average.

Tonight The Magpies were hosting Northern Premier League West Runcorn Linnets in an FA Cup replay, after Jack Hazelhurst scored a 72nd minute equaliser at the Millbank Stadium.

Tonight though Chorley eased into the next round with a routine win. All of their goals came in the first half courtesy of headed goals from David Moyo (24) and Harvey Smith (32) then a penalty kick converted by Carlton Ubaezuonu (39).

Like most of the crowd I was expecting a second half onslaught but it never materialised as Chorley settled for what they had and The Linnets upped their game. The final goal of the tie arrived in the 93rd minute and was the best of the bunch as Max Woodcock curled an absolute beauty into the top corner, this was not long after Runcorn's Lewis Doyle had recieved a second yellow card.

Chorley will now travel to Curzon Ashton in the next round on September 30th.

WAKEFIELD AFC (Belle Vue)

PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY, WAKEFIELD AFC 3-3 NORTH FERRIBY FC, ATTENDANCE: 339

This afternoon I headed to the Belle Vue, the home of Wakefield Trinity Rugby League, and for season 2023/24, the home of Wakefield AFC. 

This was my first visit here since March 2006 when Wakefield & Emley FC were the 'home' team. I have absolutely no memory of that night but Farsley Celtic beat them 1-0. The ground is currently undergoing some major changes with a new terrace behind the goal and a new main stand still under construction.

This current club to represent Wakefield was founded in 2019, they were promoted to the Northern Counties East League in 2022. They have moved to Belle Vue for season 2023/24, having played at Post Office Road in Featherstone since their formation. 

This afternoon North Ferriby were the visitors for this friendly and it was a decent encounter as Wakefield came from 0-2 and 1-3 down to draw 3-3.

Danny Earl (11) and Joshua Dennett (21) gave The Villagers a 2-0 lead before a Billy Mole penalty (37) halved the deficit. Earl (39) bagged his second to give Ferriby a 3-1 lead at half time.

Mole scored his second on the hour before Mason Rubie (70) ensured the game ended with honours even. A good workout for both teams.

Danny Earl heads home North Ferriby's opening goal.

SUNDERLAND RCA (Meadow Park)

FA CUP 1st QUALIFYING ROUND, SUNDERLAND RCA 2-4 STOCKTON TOWN, ATTENDANCE: 324

There were plenty of choices on offer today but I could not resist the lure of an FA Cup tie. After much deliberation, I decided to head to the North East for the match up between Sunderland RCA (of the Northern League) and Stockton Town (recently promoted to the Northern Premier League).

Sunderland RCA are based in the Ryhope area of the city and their full name is Sunderland Ryhope Community Association. The club was founded in 1963 and competed in local league's until the mid 1970's when the club folded after entry to the Wearside League was refused, as there was already a team called Ryhope competing in it.

The club reformed in 1978 and joined the Northern Alliance before becoming founding members of the Northern League Division Two in 1982. At this point the club were now playing at their own ground, Meadow Park, which is currently known as Sunderland LGV Park for sponsorship purposes. The Sunderland prefix was added in 2006 when the club joined forces with Springboard Sunderland and in 2010 they were promoted to the Northern League Division One.

It was a wise decision to head here to today as I witnessed an absolutely brilliant FA Cup tie.

The home side were fastest out the blocks and had a couple of efforts blocked within the first minute and had a couple of good chances after that but, against the run of the early play, Stockton took the lead when Kevin Hayes (14) scored from a free kick (pictured left). The visitors controlled the play after this and were 2-0 up after 22 minute, a superb flowing move culminating in the ball been played out wide for Mikey Roberts to run onto and fire into the bottom corner of the net.

Stockton nearly made it three but a quick counter resulted in Sunderland's Michael Annang-Colquhoun scrambling home after 28 minutes. This clearly lifted the home side and on 36 minutes they were level, Simon Jakab heading home.

There were chances for both teams before the break, Sunderland coming the closest when Mark Davison hit the crossbar in stoppage time.

After such an open first half the second half was always going to be a little more cagier but it was Stockton who always seemed to have the slight edge. It wasn't until 20 minutes from time that they finally pulled away when Hayes scored his second, via a slight deflection of a defenders heel (pictured right) and then substitute Nathan Steel wrapped the tie up with six minutes to go. 

A fantastic advert for the FA Cup and reaffirmed my belief that it is still the best Cup competition in the world. Stockton will now travel to Curzon Ashton in the next round, which should be another intriguing encounter.

BOSTON TOWN (Tattershall Road)

FA CUP 3rd QUALIFYING ROUND, BOSTON TOWN 2-3 HYDE UNITED, ATTENDANCE: 410

When the draw was made for the 3rd Qualifying Round of the FA Cup was made, the tie  between Boston Town and Hyde United certainly was the one that jumped out as far as I was concerned. 

One of the lower ranked teams left in the competition against a big name in non-league football who are regrouping after three relegations in three years, which took them from the Conference National to the Northern Premier League Division One North. The phrase "potential banana skin" definitely sprung to mind!

Myself and another couple of groundhoppers made our way east to Tattershall Road (renamed The DWB Stadium under a sponsorship deal) the home of The Poachers. For a step 5 ground it certainly is a fantastic set up, far better than I imagined. There is cover on three sides of the ground, including a stand with 450 seats, and behind the goal on the remaining side there is a large clubhouse.

Boston Town was established in 1964 (as Boston FC) by former officials of Boston United, concerned that United's financial problems, which had led them to resign from the Midland League, would ultimately lead to them folding.

Due to the geographical location of Boston the football club has been members of various leagues throughout their history, having played in the Lincolnshire League, Midland League, Northern Counties East League and Central Midlands League. They are currently members of the United Counties League Premier Division, which is step 5 in the pyramid.

Boston's best run in the FA Cup was in 1976 when they reached the 1st round proper, losing to 3-1 to Barnsley at Oakwell. They last reached the 3rd qualifying in 1980, losing 1-0 to Corby Town.

So, it was the first time in 37 years Boston had got this far in the FA Cup. So the big question pre-match was could The Poachers shoot down The Tigers?

In an incident packed game, it was Boston who started the brightest and they took the lead through Simon Ashton after 9 minutes, when he pounced on a loose ball in the area.

There was a nasty clash of heads between Hyde's Kyle Harrison and Boston's Ben Davison which left the Poachers midfielder out cold. It was a couple minutes before he eventually came round and was, fortunately, able to walk off the pitch.

Harrison picked up a yellow card for the challenge and he soon he recieved another for a rash challenge on Ollie Pinner and was promptly given his matching orders by referee Sarah Garrett.

Ironically though the red card galvanised The Tigers and they began to take control of the game. Soon they were level through Matt Beadle's fine strike. Boston goalkeeper Harry Payne made two world class saved to keep the game all square at the break.

Danny Maddison scored from the penalty spot soon after the restart to restore Boston's lead. Just minutes later though, Hyde were level courtesy of a spot kick of their own, Beadle netting his second goal.

The game ebbed and flowed but as the game entered the latter stages it was Hyde applying most of the pressure as Boston began to tire. It took some more fine stops from Payne, and some assistance from the woodwork, to keep the scoreline level.

With three minutes remaining however Hyde's Big Khamsuk broke clear and rounded the Boston goalkeeper but Jason Field blocked the strikers effort on the line with his arm. Red card and another penalty. Beadle made no mistake to complete his hat-trick and put Hyde in the hat for the next round. Cue pandemonium amongst the 100 or so travelling Hyde fans as they celebrated behind the goal.

The Boston players sank to their knees but they can be immensely proud of their display, their efforts certainly deserved a replay. It was a great game to watch and a fine advert for the non-league football. 

The magic of the cup indeed!

Danny Maddison scores from the penalty spot

to put Boston Town 2-1 up.

Matt Beadle completes his hat-trick with another

penalty kick to send Hyde United into the next round