STOCKTON SO CLOSE TO SEALING WEMBLEY TRIP
NON-LEAGUE FOOTBALL: WEATHER TAKES ITS TOLL ONCE AGAIN, BUT ANCHORS SEAL SEMI-FINAL ADVANTAGE
Stockton Town took a massive step towars Wembley by winning the first leg of the Buildbase FA Vase semi-final 2-0 against Marske United.
A sell-out 1,500 crowd saw Marske undone in the first half at Stockton’s Bishopton Road West ground.
The Anchors needed just 12 minutes to make the breakthrough, with a Max Craggs free-kick headed into his own goal by Josh Rowbotham, beating helpless keeper Robert Dean.
The Seasiders responded immediately when a free-kick from Craig Gott hit the wall and went over the bar.
Gott then had an effort comfortably saved by Stockton keeper Michael Arthur, who then did well to gather a deflection from his own defender to keep his team ahead.
United piled on the pressure and Arthur had to parry a long-range shot from Chay Liddle. Marske then had two efforts blocked in a goalmouth scramble, with one hitting the post and deflecting wide.
Stockton’s Joe Carter then brought keeper Dean into action, forced to make a good save. Then, three minutes before half-time, the Anchors doubled their lead, when Liam O’Sullivan’s mistake was punished by Fred Woodhouse, who turned the ball past keeper Dean to make it 2-0.
Marske had a glorious chance to pull one back in the second half, but Arthur saved as O’Sullivan mistimed his header at the back post.
Curtis Round then drove a shot wide and, when Danny Earl broke free, keeper Arthur pulled off a great save to deny him.
James Fairley finished off a good team move with a fine strike which was saved by Arthur, then Fairley fired another shot just over as Stockton held on to their twogoal advantage.
The return leg is also at Stockton this Saturday.
Just one game got the go-ahead in the Northern League, with second-bottom Darlington RA boosting their survival chances in Division Two by edging a 2-1 success at Billingham Town in a sensational finish. The snow was a factor in the first half, as the players failed to create any real chances. In the second half, Town attacked and were awarded a penalty, but the referee changed his mind after consulting his assistant.
With just four minutes left, Brandon Kirkbride fired Billingham in front, beating goalkeeper Paul Griffith.
However, three minutes later, RA were awarded a penalty, which Nathan Wilson fired past Lewis Shaw to level things up at 1-1.
Dramatically, in the second minute of stoppage time, the visitors scored again through James Connor, to claim three vital points.
RA are now only a point behind Bedlington Terriers, but they have played six more matches.
Darlington RA secretary Alan Hamilton said: “I’ve aged 25 years! We went a goal down after 87 minutes and I thought ‘here we go again’, but we managed to equalise with a penalty after 89 minutes and then took a 2-1 lead in two minutes of added on time, so three points for us.
“We haven’t won for ave step towards Wem while and we’ve not played for three weeks. It was a huge relief to get three points on the board.”
The top two teams in the TWR Bifolds Wearside League, Cleator Moor Celtic and Hebburn Town Reserves, could not be separated in a tight, goalless draw on Saturday.
The draw kept Cleator Moor a point ahead of Hebburn in the rejigged table, following the demise of Prudhoe Town. Now, the top two have eight matches left, while third-placed Redcar Town are nine points off top spot, with four games in hand.
Cl eat or Moor and H ebb urn both had chances in a closefought duel on the Cumbrian coast, but neither team was able to break the deadlock.
Hebburn Town Reserves secretary David Pattison said: “It was good to come away with a point from our 0-0 draw.
“The lads played well and deserved to share the spoils.
“We were very pleased as well, with the nice welcome we got from Cleator Moor.”
Cleator Moor manager Stuart Green said: “It was a tough game between two very good sides and it was a bit scrappy at times, but a game both teams clearly didn’t want to lose.
“We shaded it in terms of possession, but, unfortunately, we lacked that cutting edge in front of goal.”
The rest of the programme was wiped out by waterlogged pitches.
Spennymoor Town lost 3-2 at Salford City in the National League North after leading with efforts from Nathan Lowe and Ryan Hall.
Doubles from Stephen Thompson and Josh Gil lies set up a 6-0 rout for Darlington against bottom club North Ferriby United. David Syers and Reece Styche also netted.