05/09/10: Billingham Station (1) v (3) The Victory Club (After Extra Time)
Scorers: Tench, Hunter, Rodgers
Team: Swan (GK), Mountford (Rodgers), Bunyan, Davison (c), M. Dryden, Hunter, Lamb, S. Dryden (Hudson), Robson (Harding), Smiles, Tench
Unused Subs: Stores, White
Yellows: None
Reds: None
The Victory Club once again demonstrated their cup capabilities as they eliminated Billingham Station from this seasons County Cup, winning by a 3-1 scoreline after extra time.
Manager, George Ross was able to welcome back Scott Hunter and Lewis Swan after both missed the Silksworth game. They replaced Anthony Farrell-Collins, who was on holiday, and last week’s penalty saving hero, Alex Rodgers. The Victory also handed a competitive debut to striker, Alan Tench, who took the place of Nathan Hudson as Ross went for a more attack minded 4-4-2 formation.
Both teams started cautiously and in the early stages there was little in the way of goalmouth action. In fact it wasn’t until the twentieth minute that one of the goalkeepers was called into action. A long ball forward from a Victory player set Tench clear. He cleverly checked back inside of his marker but his shot lacked conviction and was comfortably saved by the Billingham keeper. Towards the end of the first period, Billingham finally started to show their attacking prowess and forced a succession of corner kicks. It was from one of these set pieces that they almost took the lead. The Victory failed to clear a corner properly and when the ball was delivered back into the box it found its way to an unmarked Billingham attacker. Swan though, was off his line quickly and bravely dived at the striker’s feet to keep the ball out. For the third Victory game in succession the scoreline remained goalless as we reached the half time break.
The Victory made one alteration at the interval with Nathan Hudson coming on in place of Steve Dryden. Billingham began the second period well and started to knock the ball around but were struggling to find a way through a tight Victory backline. However, on the hour mark, Billingham came ever so close to going ahead. The Victory conceded a free kick right on the edge of the box and from the resulting kick Swan was left rooted to the spot as the ball rebounded off the right hand post and away to safety. A couple of minutes later and it was the Victory’s turn to almost break the deadlock. Stephen Robson’s through ball found Scott Hunter, who rode one challenge and strode forward, but unfortunately for the men in red his finish was poor as he rolled the ball past the left hand upright with only the keeper to beat. As the game entered the final quarter of normal time, Peter Harding and Alex Rodgers replaced Stephen Robson and Simon Mountford, who was forced to limp off with a foot injury sustained in a challenge moments earlier. With around twelve minutes remaining the Victory were then presented with a golden opportunity to open the scoring and put one foot into the next round of the cup as they were awarded a penalty. The referee correctly pointed to the spot after the Billingham goalkeeper decided that the only way to stop James Smiles was to haul him down by the waist. Up stepped, Greg Davison, usually so reliable from the spot. This time though, that was not the case as he scuffed his left footed penalty the wrong side of the post to send the Billingham sideline into raptures. The final few minutes passed without any real action and for the second week in a row the Victory faced up to the prospect of playing the additional thirty minutes of extra time.
The opening stages of extra time saw little in the way of positive play from either side with both no doubt knowing that one mistake at this stage could prove to be costly. Then, as the game entered its hundredth minute, the Victory finally broke the deadlock with a goal that came virtually out of nowhere. A long ball forward was controlled on his chest by Tench who instinctively swivelled and hit a right footed volley from full thirty yards. The ball seemed to hang in the air and take the keeper by the surprise but after a ricochet off both the keeper and crossbar the ball dropped into the back of the net. It was a special strike and a great way for Tench to mark his first start for the Victory Club. A couple of minutes later and the referee incurred the wrath of George Ross, as the Billingham keeper, with Tench bearing down on him, charged out of his box and clearly batted the ball with his right hand. The referee spotted the handball but then surprised everyone by keeping his cards in his pocket and deeming a free kick to be sufficient punishment. From the resulting free kick, Mark Dryden’s shot was comfortably saved by the keeper.
Not content with sitting on their one goal advantage the Victory pushed hard at the start of the second period of extra time looking for a potentially killer second goal. A robust challenge from a Billingham defender saw the Victory awarded a free kick on the right edge of the penalty area. It was at this point that Billingham decided to swap their goalkeeper, with their left winger donning the gloves and the keeper taking his outfield role. General consensus in the footballing world is that you never make a defensive alteration when defending a set piece let alone change your goalkeeper. This proved to be sound logic as from the restart Scott Hunter’s cross sailed over the new goalkeeper’s head and nestled in the far corner of the net. While Hunter tried to convince everyone that his cross was actually a shot (not a chance was it!) Billingham looked astounded at what had happened but ultimately they had only themselves to blame for making the change at such a stupid time.
Five minutes later and the Victory all but sealed the game as two substitutes combined to put them three goals clear. Peter Harding’s left wing corner was flicked into the net at the near post by Alex Rodgers. Replays later showed that the ball had actually gone in off the number thirteen emblazoned on the back of Rodger’s shirt. Some say the number thirteen is unlucky but on this occasion it was anything but for both Rodgers and the Victory.
Billingham refused to give up though, and they almost pulled a goal back in final three minutes but Paul Bunyan, or Theo Walcott as he was christened by the Billingham sideline, was perfectly positioned to hook a header off the goal line. Swan was also forced into a good save diving away to his left to keep out another headed effort.
Unfortunately for the Victory their hopes of keeping a clean sheet were dashed in the final minute as Billingham netted a scarcely deserved consolation goal with the last kick of the game. A long ball forward saw a Billingham striker run clear and slide the ball past Swan. The ball trickled goalwards before cannoning back off the right hand post and despite despairing dives from both Bunyan and Dryden the rebound fell kindly for another Billingham player, who clipped the ball into the back of the net. The concession of the late goal was disappointing but failed to take the shine off what was another good performance and win for George Ross’ side.
