Baht 'Atters in Tatters - Sunk By Admirals' Last Ditch Effort !!!

And so to the MPM Stadium, aka Ben Rhydding Sports Club, for a Bank Holiday Monday North West Counties Division One North 'derby' between Ilkley Town and Nelson.

Open age football in Ilkley has existed since the early 20th century with Saturday and Sunday league teams playing at West Holmes and East Holmes fields alongside the River Wharfe. 

The post war predecessors of the current Ilkley Town football club were Ilkley Rangers (1947) and Ilkley British Legion (1955) before Ilkley Town was formed in the 1960s competing in the Wharfedale League. 

In the late 1980s the club struggled to survive in a town where rugby, cricket, tennis, golf and hockey possessed greater social allegiance and better facilities, and disbanded in the early 1990s.

The club was re-formed in 1995 as Ilkley AFC and joined the Harrogate & District Football League gaining promotion to the Premier League in 1997. After a period of financial difficulty the Baht 'Atters moved up to the West Yorkshire League, with promotion to Division One at the first attempt followed by a change of name to Ilkley Town in 2006.

After decades of renting local authority and school pitches Ilkley Town Football Club was accepted into the Ben Rhydding Sports Club in 2009 (a 4G pitch was added in 2017). Promotion to the Premier League of the West Yorkshire AFL was won in 2016.

The club was promoted to the North West Counties League Division One North this year, and will enter the FA Vase for the very first time - playing Penrith at home a week on Saturday, but league form has been shocking; five straight defeats then followed by a 6-0 drubbing of the Salmoners of Darwen AFC and a 3-2 away win at South Liverpool two days ago - no reward without effort as the club badge shows....

Nelson FC was founded in 1881, joining the Lancashire League in 1889 and becoming champions in 1896. The club folded during the 1898/99 season and was expelled by the Lancashire FA. Having rejoined the League in 1900, the club again closed down in 1916 with bailiffs called in.

Having reformed in 1918 and entered the Central League, the Admirals became founder members of the Football League Division 3 North in 1921. Promotion to Division 2 followed in 1923, and the side embarked on a Spanish preseason tour which saw them beat Real Madrid 4-2 !

 

Sadly the club was relegated after only one season, and against a backdrop of struggling form, falling attendances and growing debt (even a fund raising carnival lost £20 !) the team finished bottom of the League in 1931. They failed to win re-election and were replaced by Chester City. Having dropped into the Lancashire Combination the Admirals folded once more in August 1936 due to crippling debts.

 

Hastily reformed as Nelson Town the new club entered the local Nelson & Colne League in which they played up to the start of World War II. After a further reformation in 1946 and rejoining the Lancashire Combination, the Admirals were crowned champions in 1950 and again in 1952, the latter under the stewardship of Joe Fagan, who went on to manage Liverpool.

 

In 1971 the football club moved from its Seedhill base, home since 1905 and which also hosted the Nelson Admirals speedway team, to Victoria Park. Seedhill became a stock car racing venue, but was all but demolished when the M65 was built.

 

Nelson FC became a founder member of the North West Counties Football League in 1982 but was evicted in 1988 due to ground grading requirement failures. A four year sojourn in the West Lancashire League ended with readmittance to the NWCFL as Victoria Park, or Little Wembley as the locals christened it, was upgraded. The Admirals resigned from the league in 2010 but after a 12 month 'sabbatical' returned and were promoted to the Premier Division in 2014; relegation in 2017 subsequently was followed by underwhelming performances and season abandonments, emphasising the club motto of 'Nothing Can Be Achieved Without Work'. This term the Admirals also have six points from seven games - one win, three draws and three defeats.

Amidst pockets of drizzle, which become a heavy shower in Ilkley, it's past The Vine Inn - Watson and Woodheads Gold Medal Ales and Stout since 1909, then Garveys still advertising St Patrick's Day....Motorway traffic on the M60, M61 and M65 takes us past Darwen Tower - the Jubilee Tower erected to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Today's numberplates are NAS1:1A, G4RB J (rubbish !!) and XP05SED.

Through Colne with Hedgehogg Florists and the Morris Dancers pub, it's into Glusburn and Cross Hills (t'other way round from the opposite direction) before I reach Silsden, 'Cobbydale', headquarters of the Ecology Building Society. Then Ilkley and its artisan shops and pubs, and home to the arts, supporting an art gallery, playhouse and cinema - and even a Furniture Hospital !!

Passing the Fuggle and Golding, Flying Duck, Ilkley Cow, Bar T'At and Mrs Duttons Wondrous Workshops, we alight on the Lister's Arms, opposite the former headquarters of the West Yorkshire Road Car Company. Lunch is taken with a pint of Pommies Revenge.

Then a walk into Riverside Park, agin the River Wharfe and down the road to Ben Rhydding, overlooked by the Cow and Calf, signs for Niddtrail, and a diversion to the Ben Rhydding de Mohicanen Scout and Guide Group - the thought of girl guides with Mohican hairdos does not sit comfortably with Ilkley's affluent reputation....

The MPM Stadium forms part of the Ben Rhydding Spoprts Club which hosts flat green bowls, croquet, hockey, cricket, mini football and in the far corner the Baht 'Atters. £6 in, a bumper crowd of 160 (goodness knows how they accommodated 499 for the visit of Bury AFC on the season's opening day !!) - and a sizeable away contingent ☺

One tree lined side is fenced off, and there's a covered shelter, 'The Ilkley Carnival Stand' opposite, but no seats anywhere....a walkway extends round the three occupiable sides. At the top end a sign for 'Beers & Pies' leading to more football pitches, but definitely no beers or pies !! At the other end 'Beer, Coffee & Cake' provides a truer reflection on what refreshments can be bought.....

 

Strangely Ilkley, who play in all navy blue, are in alternative colours of all maroon. The Admirals, who also normally play in all blue, are in change colours of grey with electric lime sleeves. I take up position next to a stout linesman with tattoos on his hand and behind his ear, and alongside a groundhopper wearing a Peaceful Hooligan cagoule, who has selected this game for goals - both sides having scored and conceded plenty.

 

An entertaining first half produces several chances but by the half hour Peaceful Hooligan is forecasting a goalless draw.... Tom Smith goes close for the Baht 'Atters, and then left back McCauley Smith fizzes two long range efforts just wide. For the Admirals Nathan Webb has four strikes, one scored at the second attempt but ruled out for offside, and Jack Holt has a shot deflected marginally wide.

 

But on 35 minutes a Nelson corner is cleared and Ilkley's policy of leaving right back James Hudson as the sole man up front pays dividends. He outmuscles the centre half and, in a straight one on one, sees his initial shot saved by Jack Little before calmly tucking away the rebound, and Baht 'Atters are one up at the break.

 

Within a minute of the restart The Admirals are level - the ball breaking fortuitously for Webb to smash home emphatically beyond Callum Gladding. Thereafter Ilkley suffer injuries to three of their back four and cling on, creating the occasional breakaway chance, with Tom Smith's curling effort their best attempt.

Webb is guilty of a horrendous miss, and Nelson pass up several further opportunities as the clock ticks down into injury time. Ilkley sub James Hughes overruns the ball in acres of space and fouls Little in the 94th minute; the subsequent free kick is hoofed forward and drops for Admirals' substitute Brad Ditch to fire home for a 2-1 Nelson victory ... and a headline writer's dream ☺

Breck Ready For Battle As Nelson Meet Their Trafalgar

And so to Anfield, no not that Anfield, but Anfield Sports & Community Centre and another new club to the North West Counties this season, Lower Breck FC. The visitors this Bank Holiday Monday afternoon are Nelson FC.

Lower Breck Boys FC was founded in summer 2010 by the Moore family based in the Tuebrook area of Liverpool as a youth team. For the 2012/13 season ‘The Breck’ joined forces with the respected Famous Grapes FC, becoming an open age team and member of the Liverpool County Premier League Second Division. The side won the 2^nd Division title in its first season and then changed name to Lower Breck FC. Promotion to the Premier Division was achieved the following season.

After a cup double in 2016/17, last term saw Breck achieve the quadruple – winning the Liverpool County Premier League, LCFA Challenge Cup, George Mahon Cup and I-Zingari Cup. The side was unbeaten throughout the entire campaign with a run stretching back to October 2016, and their application to join the North West Counties Football League Division One North was successful.

Nelson FC was founded in 1881, joining the Lancashire League in 1889 and becoming champions in 1896. The club folded during the 1898/99 season and was expelled by the Lancashire FA. Having rejoined the League in 1900, the club again closed down in 1916 with bailiffs called in.

Having reformed in 1918 and entered the Central League, the Admirals became founder members of the Football League Division 3 North in 1921. Promotion to Division 2 followed in 1923, and the side embarked on a Spanish preseason tour which saw them beat Real Madrid 4-2 !

Sadly the club was relegated after only one season, and against a backdrop of struggling form, falling attendances and growing debt (even a fund raising carnival lost £20 !) the team finished bottom of the League in 1931. They failed to win re-election and were replaced by Chester City. Having dropped into the Lancashire Combination the Admirals folded once more in August 1936 due to crippling debts.

Hastily reformed as Nelson Town the new club entered the local Nelson & Colne League in which they played up to the start of World War II. After a further reformation in 1946 and rejoining the Lancashire Combination, the Admirals were crowned champions in 1950 and again in 1952, the latter under the stewardship of Joe Fagan, who went on to manage Liverpool.

In 1971 the football club moved from its Seedhill base, home since 1905 and which also hosted the Nelson Admirals speedway team, to Victoria Park. Seedhill became a stock car racing venue, but was all but demolished when the M65 was built.

Nelson FC became a founder member of the North West Counties Football League in 1982 but was evicted in 1988 due to ground grading requirement failures. A four year sojourn in the West Lancashire League ended with readmittance to the NWCFL as Victoria Park, or Little Wembley as the locals christened it, was upgraded.

The Admirals resigned from the league in 2010 but after a 12 month 'sabbatical' returned and were promoted to the Premier Division in 2014. Only Cammell Laird finished below Nelson in 2017, prompting a return to Division One. Last season the Admirals fared even worse only avoiding rock bottom on goal difference, and not being relegated due to the restructure of the non league game in the summer.

So under a brooding sky and a murmuration of starlings over the retail park, it's past the old stocks outside the Orange Tree and the colourful Denzell Gardens to the M56. Then the M6 over Thelwall, standing traffic on the opposite carriageway including a Moscow State Circus lorry.

On to the M62, monster warehouses and a single wind turbine spinning furiously away, Griffin Wood and The Dream sculpture. Off at The Rocket with the motorway ending at Junction 4 - strangely not at Junction 1 as you would expect…..

Into Old Swan, with Cask Liverpool Micropub and then Tuebrook with outlets including Mei Mei Fish & Chips, Beauty Box Aesthetics and Udderley Delicious. I'm on Rocky Lane by now, a pitted and potholed road that lives down to its name.

Right on to Lower Breck Road and the Anfield Sports & Community Centre set in the middle of Edinburgh Park, barely a mile from Anfield and Goodison Park. Plenty of parking and plenty of fields too with dog walkers wearing gloves and winter coats......

Outside is the Cruyff Court, a mini AstroTurf pitch, and a sign bearing 'The 14 Rules of Johan Cruyff'. Inside is a reception desk where I pay my £3, wander through the cafe and into the ground. Only two sides are open, the popular side with hard standing and a small covered all seater stand set back in the corner, oddly stretching from the goal line to the penalty area - and clearly not the best viewing point !!

There is also a limited standing area behind the goal where right at its extremity you can make out Anfield, towering above the houses in this residential area. On the far side the two dugouts are 60 metres apart, which at least prevents handbags between the two sets of coaching staff. Beyond that fields, a dog walker staying for the entire duration of the game to retrieve balls kicked out of the ground, which essentially is a caged AstroTurf pitch.

Breck, with their motto 'Nulli Secundus' (Second to None) are in red and white stripes and black shorts (think Sheffield United). The Admirals are in change green with black trim. My neighbour is wearing shorts and.....an electronic tag. Be afraid, be very afraid - I move.....as do others !!

Within 8 minutes Breck take the lead. Mick Douglas’s shot is blocked by a combination of two defenders and goalkeeper, but the ball runs loose to Peter Donnelly and he scores easily into the open goal.
Mason Nevitt has a header cleared off the line by Admirals' captain Ash Brierley but after that it's all Nelson. Sam Dickinson's volley is plucked from the air, James Wolfenden heads straight at the keeper and Martin Trickett glances wide.

Breck come into again just before the break and Nevitt wastes two glorious chances, blazing wildly over with one, the other clawed away by the visitors' stopper, Marcel Wusiewicz.

The second half is a war of attrition, the players battling each other (4 yellow cards) and the pitch. Breck create the better chances – Jamie Henders shoots narrowly wide, then forces a good save from Wusiewicz with Louis Austin firing over from the rebound. Callum Hill shaves the post with his measured effort.

Nelson have plenty of ball and pressure but their shooting is (h)armless and befitting of a man with only one eye. Their best chance falls to Wolfenden, who six yards out and facing an empty goal manages to get the ball tangled under his feet and the eventual scuffed shot is blocked.

Breck survive four minutes of added time to take the game 1-0 and continue their encouraging start to life at a higher level, with a crowd of 102 exactly matching that at Steeton on Saturday.

Town Pay The Penalty As Admirals of The Bleat Avoid Another Trafalgar

And so to The Venue at Park Hall, the home of FC Oswestry Town, who share facilities with The New Saints, for the North West Counties Football League Division One clash with Nelson FC, 'The Admirals' - naturally !!

FC Oswestry Town was formed in 2013 as a successor to Oswestry Lions, which had folded, and took the Lions' place in the Mercian Regional League Division One. The club finished third in their first season and was promoted to the Premier Division.

The following year Town won the Commander Ethelstone Cup, but the 2015/16 campaign saw the club win the quadruple - the Shropshire Challenge Cup, the Mercian Regional League Cup, retaining the Commander Ethelstone Cup and champions of the Mercian Regional League Premier Division.

Winning the latter title earnt the team promotion to the North West Counties Division One, and a 15th place finish in their debut season. 15th is where they currently sit this time too, despite losing 12 of their first 13 matches.

Nelson FC was founded in 1881, joining the Lancashire League in 1889 and becoming champions in 1896. The club folded during the 1898/99 season and was expelled by the Lancashire FA. Having rejoined the League in 1900, the club again closed down in 1916 with bailiffs called in.

Having reformed in 1918 and entered the Central League, the Admirals became founder members of the Football League Division 3 North in 1921. Promotion to Division 2 followed in 1923, and the side embarked on a Spanish preseason tour which saw them beat Real Madrid 4-2 !

Sadly the club was relegated after only one season, and against a backdrop of struggling form, falling attendances and growing debt (even a fund raising carnival lost £20 !) the team finished bottom of the League in 1931. They failed to win re-election and were replaced by Chester City. Having dropped into the Lancashire Combination the Admirals folded once more in August 1936 due to crippling debts.

Hastily reformed as Nelson Town the new club entered the local Nelson & Colne League in which they played up to the start of World War II. After a further reformation in 1946 and rejoining the Lancashire Combination, the Admirals were crowned champions in 1950 and again in 1952, the latter under the stewardship of Joe Fagan, who went on to manage Liverpool.

In 1971 the football club moved from its Seedhill base, home since 1905 and which also hosted the Nelson Admirals speedway team, to Victoria Park. Seedhill became a stock car racing venue, but was all but demolished when the M65 was built.

Nelson FC became a founder member of the North West Counties Football League in 1982 but was evicted in 1988 due to ground grading requirement failures. A four year sojourn in the West Lancashire League ended with readmittance to the NWCFL as Victoria Park, or Little Wembley as the locals christened it, was upgraded. The Admirals resigned from the league in 2010 but after a 12 month 'sabbatical' returned and were promoted to the Premier Division in 2014. Last time around only Cammell Laird finished below Nelson, prompting a return to Division One. This season the Admirals have fared even worse and currently sit rock bottom.

Setting out against a backdrop of gunmetal grey sky it's straight into roadworks, a lane closure and traffic chaos. Then past the giant carved wooden eagle at the dental practice on Manchester Road and through Altrincham town centre with its £16,000 4 metre monolith aka vanity project that tells us Altrincham has been a market town since 1290, complete with spelling mistake.....

On to the M56 with the rain teeming down and Stanlow refinery belching fumes and the wind turbines going like the blazes. Then the M53 which becomes the A55 and a turn onto the A483 before nine miles down the A5 - all surrounded by waterlogged fields.

Beyond Lion Quays, the Lord Moreton and over the Llangollen Canal, past Artillery Business Park and down Burma Road to The Venue at Park Hall. Disappointingly the former Grandad's Cafe advertising 'Ugly Staff, Beautiful Food' has closed :(

The Venue at Park Hall, in Whittington just outside Oswestry is a ten pin bowling and gym complex with a hospitality suite that leads through to a large balcony and seats overlooking the half way line. Next to it is a poor neighbour stand that covers the rest of the touchline, but the Black Hawk Laser Games behind it looks enticing....

At the far end is another stand that begins at the corner flag, continues behind the goal and then stops rather abruptly at the 18 yard line. Bizarrely, opposite the main stand, there is a further narrow mini grandstand that houses the press box on the second tier, the subs' benches on the first tier and the technical area on the ground and, er, that's it. The rest of the ground is flanked by trees - we are in the countryside after all !

Down to the main turnstile which is unmanned, and I find I'm still slim enough to squeeze through, fiver in hand. The crowd is later announced as 54 (plus one non-payer !!) with nine dotted round the ground and 46 on the balcony - 'it's just like being at the races' - which is presumably where I was supposed to pay !!

Town are in blue and white, the Admirals in change green and black, and the near linesman is wearing gloves...and glasses ! The rain, which caused all bar three of today's fixtures to be postponed, has abated as the match gets underway, following tannoy announcements about drinking, smoking and standing.

The first half is one of Nelson's persistent fouling and moaning to the referee. Town, by contrast, try to play football on the AstroTurf but misplaced passing and poor control scuppers much of their play, failing to take advantage of the rear Admirals' leaky offside trap.

Nonetheless Louis Moss is just wide with a drive and Sam Spridgeon's swirling chip drifts just beyond the post, after Admirals' keeper Marcel Wusiewicz makes a complete mess, twice, of stopping a straightforward effort.

Nelson take the lead on 24 minutes from Chris Turner's penalty for a dubious handball, just after Town's appeal for a spot kick is (incorrectly) turned down. Turner has a shot deflected wide, after a Town error caused by overplaying just outside their own area, as we reach the midpoint - and a half time draw of £1 to win a box of biscuits, an offer certainly good enough to refuse !!

A minute into the second half the Admirals win a corner and the inswinging delivery is cleared off the line - just. Five minutes later Oswestry equalise through Moss from a lovely one-two. Thereafter craft and guile, never much in evidence in the first period, are replaced by graft and bile and it's a frustrating watch. Nelson's strongarm tactics, flare ups and some fairly awful football are complemented by atrocious officiating.

So it's a shock when Tse Nan Yue, aka Curtis (??!!), scores with a sumptuous effort into the top corner for the home side with twenty to go. Town hit the outside of the post via a deflection but normal service swiftly resumes.

Oswestry's defending becomes ever more desperate and brainless but they look to have survived until the fourth minute of injury time when the Admirals win another contentious free kick. The ball is swung in and Sam Holt's looping header goes beyond Town's portly custodian and captain Louis Mackin, to level it at 2-2. Judging by the celebrations you would have thought Nelson has won the World Cup - or beaten Real Madrid !! Two minutes later the away team win a corner, and the referee blows for full time.

Next weekend sees the reverse fixture but with drainage problems and the current weather, the Admirals' Little Wembley is likely to be under water.....

Admirals Sunk As Nelson Meet Their Trafalgar...

And so to the magic of the FA Cup, and fittingly to Little Wembley, otherwise known as Victoria Park, the home of Nelson FC. The Admirals (it couldn't be anything else !!) welcome the Bishops, Bishop Auckland FC, in the FA Cup Preliminary Round.

Nelson FC was founded in 1881, joining the Lancashire League in 1889 and becoming champions in 1896. The club folded during the 1898/99 season and was expelled by the Lancashire FA. Having rejoined the League in 1900, the club again closed down in 1916 with bailiffs called in.

 

Having reformed in 1918 and entered the Central League, the Admirals became founder members of the Football League Division 3 North in 1921. Promotion to Division 2 followed in 1923, and the side embarked on a Spanish preseason tour which saw them beat Real Madrid 4-2 !

 

Sadly the club was relegated after only one season, and against a backdrop of struggling form, falling attendances and growing debt (even a fund raising carnival lost £20 !) the team finished bottom of the League in 1931. They failed to win re-election and were replaced by Chester City. Having dropped into the Lancashire Combination the Admirals folded once more in August 1936 due to crippling debts.

 

Hastily reformed as Nelson Town the new club entered the local Nelson & Colne League in which they played up to the start of World War II. After a further reformation in 1946 and rejoining the Lancashire Combination, the Admirals were crowned champions in 1950 and again in 1952, the latter under the stewardship of Joe Fagan, who went on to manage Liverpool.

 

In 1971 the football club moved from its Seedhill base, home since 1905 and which also hosted the Nelson Admirals speedway team, to Victoria Park. Seedhill became a stock car racing venue, but was all but demolished when the M65 was built.

 

Nelson FC became a founder member of the North West Counties Football League in 1982 but was evicted in 1988 due to ground grading requirement failures. A four year sojourn in the West Lancashire League ended with readmittance to the NWCFL as Victoria Park, or Little Wembley as the locals christened it, was upgraded. The Admirals resigned from the league in 2010 but after a 12 month 'sabbatical' returned and were promoted to the Premier Division in 2014.

For Bishop Auckland it all started when theological students from Oxford and Cambridge Universities, whilst studying at Auckland Castle (the home of the Bishop of Durham in Bishop Auckland) formed a team known as Bishop Auckland Church Institute in 1882.

 

A later dispute caused a breakaway team to be formed - Auckland Town - in 1886/87. It was from this upheaval that Bishop Auckland FC was born. The club chose the light and dark blue colours of the original Church Institute, representing the colours of Oxbridge - and giving rise to their alternative nickname 'The Two Blues'.

 

Auckland Town was a founder member of the Northern League in 1889 but left after one season, returning in 1893 as Bishop Auckland. Between 1893 and 1988 the Bishops won the league championship a record 19 times and reached the old FA Amateur Cup 18 times, winning the Cup on 10 occasions. There was a famous double in 1938/39 with future Liverpool player and manager Bob Paisley playing at right back in the team. When the FA Amateur Cup competition ceased in 1974 the club was presented with a replica of the trophy in recognition of its outstanding record.

 

The Bishops entered the Northern Premier League in 1988, staying for 18 seasons, before reverting back to the Northern League. This was mainly due to ground issues, as the team moved from its spiritual home at Kingsway, and following groundshares at Shildon, Spennymoor and West Auckland, moved to the purpose built Heritage Park in October 2010 thus befitting the club motto 'Tempori Parendum' (One must move with the times).

Onto Washway Road, past WAGS (that's Wash And Groom Salon for dogs - insert your own joke !) and then to Barton Bridge and inevitable queues for the Trafford Centre and Chill Factore. Smart motorway but the signs inform us that '27 vehicles ran out of fuel in July' - not so smart !!

 

The M66 sees the landscape a mass of wind turbines under leaden grey skies as I pass a trundling van proclaiming itself 'The Cafe at the End of the Universe'...... Off the M65 and past the Thatch & Thistle, the old ground at Seedhill and down into a curious industrial estate on the outskirts of Nelson which also features terraced housing.

 

Little Wembley - well to be honest I'm not seeing the resemblance...... Victoria Park is bordered by trees on two sides in surrounding parkland. Along one side there is a tidy low roofed wooden stand, with its green seats, although the multitude of wooden supports makes viewing difficult. Opposite are the dugouts behind which are the back gardens of the houses on Holme Terrace and a chimney rising out of the industrial units. The clubhouse and changing rooms are behind the goal at the top end of the ground whilst the Admirals Executive Lounge is a rusting portacabin....

Despite the gloomy weather predictions of heavy rain, the black clouds race past leaving the tie to kick off in blustery but sunny conditions. The Admirals are in blue with white sleeves, and their goalkeeper in salmon, whilst the Bishops are in change lurid fluorescent lime - truly shocking !!

 

Within two minutes the Admirals lead as centre back Richard Cowan heads home from a corner. Thereafter the Bishops are sloppy, enjoying plenty of possession but with no incision and frequently caught offside. Obdurate home defending limits the away side to a routine save from Andrew Johnson whilst Chris Winn shoots narrowly over from distance, and Michael Hoganson's free kick is just wide.

 

Little has been seen from the home team, content to frustrate, until Zak Dale's mesmerising run takes him beyond three defenders, rounding the keeper before his shot is hacked off the line. And then the Bishops' prayers are answered as just before the break a diagonal ball finds Hoganson who lays the ball onto Johnson, and his low shot finds the corner of the net for the equaliser.

 

The second half is one of total dominance for the roused visitors. Within ten minutes the tie is as good as over as Hoganson is given another opportunity from a free kick and finds the top corner this time. Shortly after a corner is played to the edge of the box and Jeff Smith volleys home magnificently.

 

One more goal seals the deal for the Bishops - a penalty area shambles featuring a mishit shot, pinball defending and Andre Bennett has three bites of the cherry before smashing the ball home for a 4-1 victory for Bishop Auckland. Little Wembley’s Wembley dream over for another year….. J