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Storm-lashed Gloucester on the rise

Farnborough 0
Gloucester 1 (Rose 30)

Walter Gammie at Cherrywood Road

Gloucester City hoisted themselves out of the Southern League after 68 years with a victory in the play-off final on Saturday that they hope can play its part in returning them to a home in the city after the floods of 2007.

David Phillips, the chairman, said: “We have a very important meeting on June 11 with the council and I hope this is another ace up our sleeve to prove that, although we’re a big rugby city, football is followed by a lot of people — it’s just that we’ve never had the ground or base to live up to the dream.”

Phillips took the reins in the wake of Meadow Park, City’s ground, disappearing under water and the club being faced with extinction because insurers had refused to supply flood cover. In the past two seasons they have played at Forest Green Rovers and Cirencester Town and forged a rare spirit from financial hardship.

Main ensures another promotion for AFC Wimbledon

Hampton & Richmond 1 (Quarm 53)
AFC Wimbledon 1 (Main 87)

Walter Gammie at The Beveree

AFC Wimbledon understandably did not allow the fuss over their equalising goal to dampen their celebrations after winning a place in the Blue Square Premier next season. By maintaining a three-point lead and a goal difference advantage of 13 going into Saturday’s final fixtures, Wimbledon effectively secured successive promotions in the two seasons of Terry Brown’s management.

In a match that Brown aptly described as “not passages of football, but passages of tackles”, it was John Scarborough and Marcello Fernandes, the Hampton & Richmond Borough team-mates, taking each other out that led to Danny Kedwell crossing to an untenanted far post where Jon Main sprang high to cancel out Francis Quarm’s goal.

Scarborough was carried off on a stretcher with a badly gashed shin and Alan Devonshire, the Hampton manager, was furious that Tony Mason, the referee, did not halt play. “I’d have been moaning, too, but I have to say we deserved the point,” Brown said.

Erik Samuelson, the Wimbledon chief executive, said: “The controversy surrounding our equaliser is unfortunate but after the luck we’ve had in our last three away games, if the referee had powered it home, it would have about balanced it.” The consolation for Hampton is that they capably handled a 3,225 crowd and they may yet join Wimbledon (who have yet to beat them) through the play-offs. “I believe we’d hold our own in the Conference on and off the pitch,” Steve McPherson, the chairman, said.

Stride a giant as Burton edge closer

Burton Albion 3 (Webster 13, Corbett 53, Austin 84)
Histon 1 (Andrews 85)

Walter Gammie at the Pirelli Stadium

Burton Albion head off to Kidderminster Harriers this afternoon knowing that if they win, the Blue Square Premier title and promotion to the Football League will be theirs. A convincing victory over Histon on Saturday settled nerves that had been twanging after successive defeats.

A lion-hearted display by Darren Stride, the captain, led the way and drew a compliment from Roy McFarland, the manager, that he was to Burton what Dave Mackay had been to Derby County in his own playing days. McFarland’s determination to include Stride, the 33-year-old one-club man, in the side after a long spell on the sidelines with injury brought the midfield player converted to centre back a new role as leader of the attack.

Stride proved an inspiration. He also played his part in the goals: his near-post flick set up Aaron Webster to head the first, his nuisance value at a set-piece scrambled a defence that was subsequently caught out by Andy Corbett’s long ball from the touchline and his considered lay-off enabled Martin Butler to tee up Ryan Austin, a substitute, for the third.

Histon’s attacks were well handled by the home defence but they never give up and Neil Andrews struck a swift response to Austin’s goal.

“Ryan’s a centre half coming in on the right wing and that’s what our team’s about — different players can play in different positions and we’re all willing to pull for each other,” Stride said. “We’re hoping we can just get over that finishing line and then we can start to celebrate.”

Gotham redeems costly howlers

Glossop 2 (Bailey 2, Lugsden 120)
Chalfont St Peter 2 Lewis 30, Strutton 111
(aet; 5-5 on agg; Glossop win 6-5 on pens)

The lurid pink jersey worn by Ashlea Gotham, the 17-year-old Glossop North End goalkeeper, gave him nowhere to hide when his mistakes looked to have condemned the Vodkat North West Counties League premier division side to defeat in their FA Vase semi-final on Saturday.

Yet after an outrageous turnaround Gotham was equally as unmissable, sitting pretty on the shoulders of jubilant supporters rejoicing at their goalkeeper’s role in earning his team a day at Wembley against Whitley Bay.

The match was in the fourth minute of stoppage time at the end of extra time when Kelvin Lugsden forced an equaliser for Glossop from a corner. It was tough on Chalfont St Peter, of the Molten Spartan South Midlands League premier division, who had looked sharper throughout and capitalised on Gotham’s handling errors to score through Terrell Lewis and Charlie Strutton after recovering from falling behind to a smart left-foot shot by Rick Bailey.

Weymouth continuing to struggle

Weymouth 0
Barrow 3 (Boyd 51, Jones 54, 81)

Mark Venables at the Wessex Stadium

Financially stricken Weymouth continued their seemingly inexorable slide towards the Blue Square South after defeat by their relegation rivals yesterday. Two goals in four minutes early in the second period — a clinical half-volley from the edge of the area from Mark Boyd and a close-range finish from Paul Jones, the captain — were enough for Barrow to cruise to victory against a side who featured five loan players and four making their debuts.

Even the red card shown to Lee McEvilly, the on-loan Barrow striker, 20 minutes from time failed to trouble the Cumbrian side, who fended off the home team’s brief flurry before adding a third goal, from Jones.

Vincenti ensures Wembley payday

Ebbsfleet 0
Stevenage 1 (Vincenti 90)
(Stevenage win 4-2 on agg)

Walter Gammie at Stonebridge Road

“We want our trophy back”, the Stevenage Borough fans sang on Saturday. The club, the first winners of the FA Trophy at the reopened Wembley two years ago, will have that chance when they play York City in this year’s final on May 9.

Ebbsfleet United fought fiercely in the semi-final, second leg to keep their grip on the prize they won last year. They were held at bay, with a couple of notable interventions by Chris Day, the Stevenage goalkeeper, to deny Stacy Long, by opponents who set a club record of 21 matches without defeat and finished them off in stoppage time with a shot fired into the far corner by Peter Vincenti, a substitute.

The day out at Wembley will earn Stevenage about £300,000. “It will keep the wolf from the door this year,” Phil Wallace, the chairman, said, but his heart and that of Graham Westley, the manager, is set on promotion from the Blue Square Premier. “We’ve got to get to Wembley twice,” Wallace said. “It’s what the club is all about.”

Bridges gives Stevenage the edge

Stevenage 3 (Morison 7, Boylan 32, Bridges 81)
Ebbsfleet 2 (Barrett 61, Long 72)

Mark Venables at Broadhall Way

A spirited fightback from Ebbsfleet United kept this FA Trophy semi-final tie hanging in the balance going into the second leg at Stonebridge Road on Saturday.

The holders looked to be heading out of the competition after they fell two goals behind in the opening half-hour — a close-range header from Steve Morison and a clinical, 15-yard drive from Lee Boylan putting Stevenage Borough in the ascendancy.

It was only the brilliance of Lance Cronin in the Ebbsfleet goal that kept the visiting team within touching distance at the interval. He tipped a low drive from Mitchell Cole wide and then, in the closing seconds of the first half, he scrambled across his goal to deny Darren Murphy.

Cooper's perfect ten repel Histon

Kettering 1 (Seddon 54)
Histon 0

Walter Gammie at the A-Line Arena

The chances are that Kettering Town, with 16 matches to play in the remaining seven weeks of the Blue Square Premier season and with only a 17-man squad, will run out of steam in pursuit of a play-off place.

To judge from the way that they overcame the odds to beat Histon, who began in second place, on Saturday, however, Mark Cooper’s side will not give up the quest lightly.

Kettering led 1-0 — having exploited rare space down the left to expose the Histon defence and Gareth Seddon finally making them pay with a neat overhead kick — when they were reduced to ten men with the sending-off of Guy Branston in the 63rd minute. Their captain caught Jack Midson in the face with a boot as he tried to hook clear a bouncing ball on the touchline.

Crisis club winning plenty of friends

York 2 (Brodie 23, 90)
Weymouth 0

Walter Gammie at KitKat Crescent

York City supporters hoping that their side would be able to gorge themselves on Weymouth as Rushden & Diamonds had the previous Saturday when winning 9-0 went away disappointed. They had to be content with a less than resounding victory that nevertheless helped to alleviate their relegation worries in the Blue Square Premier. They can complete a swift double in the return fixture on Thursday.

Weymouth started with only three of the previous week’s XI. They were strengthened by loan players and non-contract signings assembled by Alan Lewer, the manager who has felt it more honourable to stay than carry out his original threat to resign.

Leadbetter's late strike forces replay

Telford 2 (Adams 10, Carey-Bertram 33 pen)
Southport 2 (Lee 7, Leadbetter 87)

Mark Venables at New Bucks Head

It was only a few years ago that Telford and Southport were dining at non-League’s top table and on Saturday they enjoyed a day back in the spotlight as they fought out a draw in the quarter-finals of the FA Trophy.

Telford’s quest for a place in the Football League literally cost them their club because, with debts mounting and the chairman’s business crumbling, they closed their doors at the end of the 2003-4 season to reappear several months later as AFC Telford United. Since then they have risen through the leagues from the UniBond Northern Premier League first division until they now stand on the doorstep of a return to the Blue Square Premier.