Late goal in semi first leg

A LATE goal gave Brackley Town FC a 1-0 win over Wealdstone in the first leg of their FA Trophy semifinal on Saturday.

The first chance fell to Mustafa Tiryaki, who saw his low effort cleared by the Brackley goalkeeper.

Wealdstone’s best chance came not long after, when Jake Sheppard broke and his shot was spilled to Bradley Bubb – pictured – whose follow-up was cleared off the line.

The Stones then had chances through Eddie Oshodi and Ricky Wellard but neither were able to break the deadlock as the hosts rallied in the second half.

Brackley had two headers saved by Jonathan North in the Stones goal and then the keeper saved an effort from Shane Byrne.

However Byrne’s deep corner, in the 86th minute, found Alex Gudger who took a touch and unleashed a fierce shot past North into the top corner.

The second leg takes place at Grosvenor Vale on Saturday, with a trip to Wembley at stake for both sides.

Stones manager Bobby Wilkinson said: “We more than matched them until a lapse right at the end, but we got our tactics correct against a very good side, make no mistake about that.

“We all need to go into the second half on Saturday with total positivity and everyone again getting behind the team, as the fans did brilliantly at Brackley, with a big crowd at The Vale.

“If it had ended a 0-0 we would still have to score, as with a 0-1 situation.

“We will go for it as we did at their place. The tie is very much alive and there is everything to play for”