Match Report
FC United and Nantwich Town must battle it out again on Wednesday night at Gigg Lane after Saturday’s FA Cup match ended goalless at the Weaver Stadium in front of 1,783 noisy supporters.
The closely fought game was not without its chances and although the Reds could have won it, they will be pleased to still be in the competition as Sam Ashton had to be at his best to save a controversially awarded late penalty from Danny Griggs.
The main talking point of the match came with 15 minutes remaining. Substitute Liam Shotton appeared to lose his balance after a challenge from Adam Turner on the edge of the box. Shotton fell into the penalty area and the referee adjudged it to be a spot-kick.
United were dumped out at the same stage of the FA Cup last season by two contentious penalties at Fleetwood and it looked like something all too familiar was going to happen at Nantwich.
Griggs stepped up for the Dabbers and hit his shot hard and low towards the bottom right hand corner but amazingly Ashton got down in time to tip the ball away to his left – keeping FC United’s FA Cup dreams alive.
All in all it was a good result, especially when of course considering that United’s last competitive encounter with Nantwich saw them suffer a heavy 5-1 defeat in the President’s Cup – a competition which the Reds ironically went on to win.
Saturday’s match started with a delayed kick off of around 20 minutes. Once it was up and running, the first real chance of the game came from the Nantwich Peter Heler whose ferocious 25 yard drive forced Sam Ashton to jump high to tip the ball over the bar for a Nantwich corner. Immediately following Ashton’s save, United were forced to make a substitution less than 15 minutes in when Jamie Baguley failed to shrug off an injury picked up in the opening stages and was replaced by his brother.
Heler again posed a threat on the FC goal when a shot on target forced Ashton to make an excellent one handed save to his right. In the play that followed, the Reds had a penalty claim turned down when Jerome Wright, through on goal looked like he was pulled down by the Dabbers’ captain Darren Tinson in the Nantwich box. However, the referee rejected United’s appeals.
After a good interchange between Danny Warrender, Adam Carden and Carlos Roca, Carden brought the ball in field and played a one-two with Chris Baguley before releasing Wright on the left of the area. The winger’s rising shot was comfortably saved when he really should have done better.
As the half drew to a close, Nantwich applied more pressure, catching new right back Danny Warrender out of position and forcing Chris Baguley to make a saving clearance near to his own goal line.
After a fairly even first half with neither side offering much in the way of clear cut chances, the game was evenly set at 0-0 as both teams went in for the break.
The opening stages of the second half saw end-to-end football with both sides conjuring up chances in the hope of scoring that all important first goal. A shot by Wright following good work by debutant defender, Danny Warrender, was comfortably cleared for play to resume at the opposite end of the field.
Heler was pulling the strings for the hosts and it was good play from the Nantwich midfielder that released Dave Walker to go one-on-one with Ashton. However, the Reds shot-stopper was on top form all day and rushed out to make another excellent save.
Just moments later Ashton had to be at his brilliant best to save Griggs’ penalty and keep United in the tie. His heroics gave the Reds a lease of new life and they began to attack with renewed vigour.
The influential Wright cut loose on the left wing before playing a dangerous ball into the Nantwich area which caused Dave Tickle to nervously slice the ball onto his own bar and behind for a corner. Wright whipped the corner in and Turner was inches away from nicking the victory as his header sailed just over the bar.
With approximately 10 minutes left to play, Heler was shown his second yellow card for a reckless, late challenge on Simon Garner. leaving the home side with 10 men for the final stages. As the 90 minutes came to an end, Garner was replaced by Dave Neville following an injury picked up earlier in the half in a very impressive debut for the Reds.
In a last United effort in the four minutes added time, Wright played the ball into Simon Carden for a free header on goal. Carden’s effort was played straight into the hands of the keeper on the stroke of full time leaving the game to finish 0-0.
The Reds can surely take many positives into the replay at Gigg Lane on Wednesday night; the biggest of which almost certainly being the impressive and influential debuts of the newly signed full-backs, Warrender and Garner.
Report by Victoria Fullen.
Match Report
FC United and Nantwich Town must battle it out again on Wednesday night at Gigg Lane after Saturday’s FA Cup match ended goalless at the Weaver Stadium in front of 1,783 noisy supporters.
The closely fought game was not without its chances and although the Reds could have won it, they will be pleased to still be in the competition as Sam Ashton had to be at his best to save a controversially awarded late penalty from Danny Griggs.
The main talking point of the match came with 15 minutes remaining. Substitute Liam Shotton appeared to lose his balance after a challenge from Adam Turner on the edge of the box. Shotton fell into the penalty area and the referee adjudged it to be a spot-kick.
United were dumped out at the same stage of the FA Cup last season by two contentious penalties at Fleetwood and it looked like something all too familiar was going to happen at Nantwich.
Griggs stepped up for the Dabbers and hit his shot hard and low towards the bottom right hand corner but amazingly Ashton got down in time to tip the ball away to his left – keeping FC United’s FA Cup dreams alive.
All in all it was a good result, especially when of course considering that United’s last competitive encounter with Nantwich saw them suffer a heavy 5-1 defeat in the President’s Cup – a competition which the Reds ironically went on to win.
Saturday’s match started with a delayed kick off of around 20 minutes. Once it was up and running, the first real chance of the game came from the Nantwich Peter Heler whose ferocious 25 yard drive forced Sam Ashton to jump high to tip the ball over the bar for a Nantwich corner. Immediately following Ashton’s save, United were forced to make a substitution less than 15 minutes in when Jamie Baguley failed to shrug off an injury picked up in the opening stages and was replaced by his brother.
Heler again posed a threat on the FC goal when a shot on target forced Ashton to make an excellent one handed save to his right. In the play that followed, the Reds had a penalty claim turned down when Jerome Wright, through on goal looked like he was pulled down by the Dabbers’ captain Darren Tinson in the Nantwich box. However, the referee rejected United’s appeals.
After a good interchange between Danny Warrender, Adam Carden and Carlos Roca, Carden brought the ball in field and played a one-two with Chris Baguley before releasing Wright on the left of the area. The winger’s rising shot was comfortably saved when he really should have done better.
As the half drew to a close, Nantwich applied more pressure, catching new right back Danny Warrender out of position and forcing Chris Baguley to make a saving clearance near to his own goal line.
After a fairly even first half with neither side offering much in the way of clear cut chances, the game was evenly set at 0-0 as both teams went in for the break.
The opening stages of the second half saw end-to-end football with both sides conjuring up chances in the hope of scoring that all important first goal. A shot by Wright following good work by debutant defender, Danny Warrender, was comfortably cleared for play to resume at the opposite end of the field.
Heler was pulling the strings for the hosts and it was good play from the Nantwich midfielder that released Dave Walker to go one-on-one with Ashton. However, the Reds shot-stopper was on top form all day and rushed out to make another excellent save.
Just moments later Ashton had to be at his brilliant best to save Griggs’ penalty and keep United in the tie. His heroics gave the Reds a lease of new life and they began to attack with renewed vigour.
The influential Wright cut loose on the left wing before playing a dangerous ball into the Nantwich area which caused Dave Tickle to nervously slice the ball onto his own bar and behind for a corner. Wright whipped the corner in and Turner was inches away from nicking the victory as his header sailed just over the bar.
With approximately 10 minutes left to play, Heler was shown his second yellow card for a reckless, late challenge on Simon Garner. leaving the home side with 10 men for the final stages. As the 90 minutes came to an end, Garner was replaced by Dave Neville following an injury picked up earlier in the half in a very impressive debut for the Reds.
In a last United effort in the four minutes added time, Wright played the ball into Simon Carden for a free header on goal. Carden’s effort was played straight into the hands of the keeper on the stroke of full time leaving the game to finish 0-0.
The Reds can surely take many positives into the replay at Gigg Lane on Wednesday night; the biggest of which almost certainly being the impressive and influential debuts of the newly signed full-backs, Warrender and Garner.
Report by Victoria Fullen.
