Report

There was FA Cup fever at Willow Park as the Stan played Kendal Town for the 2nd time in 3 days. Just like on Saturday, the Stan should have had the tie sewn up by half time but made hard work of things in the 2nd half. In the end though they won by a comfortable 2 goals thanks to a mint Djalo hat trick & a great goal from Storey. There was 1 change from Saturday’s draw at Kendal with Milburn replacing the injured Shepherd.

Both teams started the match trying to attack. The 1st clear chance came in the 8th minute for Kendal when a free kick into the Stan box was put out for a corner. From it, a Kendal player headed over the Stan bar. After 12 minutes, the Stan had 3 corners in a row. From the 3rd Gascoigne corner in the 13th minute, Djalo headed into the net to put the Stan ahead. In 16 minutes, a speculative long range shot from Errington went just wide. 2 minutes later & Pearson supplied Djalo in the middle of the Kendal box & he passed the ball back to Pearson who blasted it over the bar. In the 20th minute, from a Stan corner, Errington sent the ball back across the Kendal box, but it was missed by everyone when it should have been in the net. Soon after, Giraud advanced past bailey in the Kendal goal but a defender managed to clear the ball. Pearson then sent the ball into the Kendal box to Djalo but his header was caught by Bailey. Both teams were trying to attack but it was the Stan who scored again in 28 minutes in identical fashion when a fast corner ball from Gascoigne was headed into the net by Djalo. The Stan kept the pressure on although Lister had to get out of his box to clear in the 36th minute. After a quieter period, Errington had a shot blocked after 43 minutes. In the 45th minute, a Djalo counter move saw him supply Pearson who eventually passed to Giraud & his diagonal shot across the Kendal goal was just put out by the diving Bailey. The ball from the resulting corner was caught by Bailey just before the half time whistle. 

The 1st few minutes of the 2nd half were mainly one way traffic as the Stan tried to attack. In 50 minutes, an Errington cross into the Kendal box was cleared. Kendal then broke & shot wide. In 52 minutes, a long-range Kendal shot, through a busy Stan box, saw Lister get down to save. In 55 minutes, the Stan were 3-0 up & all from headed balls from corners as again a Gascoigne corner was headed into the net by the advancing Djalo. In 58 minutes, Jack Milburn (not the Newcastle one though) broke for Kendal on the left & blasted the ball into the Stan net from the edge of the box. It was back to mainly Stan pressure until Kendal shot wide under pressure in the 69th minute. Soon after, a Kendal player advanced down the right & into the Stan box but his shot was stopped by a full body save by Lister. A 3rd corner in a row for Kendal in the 74th minute, saw the ball hit a Stan player’s arm just inside the box. Dickson scored from the resulting 75th minute penalty to bring them back into the tie at 3-2. Soon after, a sub Hopper ball into the box was headed out for a corner. From it, Djalo headed wide. In 78 minutes, Pearson was pulled down in the Kendal box, but nothing was given. After some more Stan pressure, in 81 minutes Milburn could not stop an advancing Kendal player but his diagonal shot went wide. In 82 minutes, Pearson won the ball but his shot under pressure was blocked for a corner. The corner was cleared but soon after Gascoigne shot high & wide. In 84 minutes, the Stan Army could breath again when Storey won the ball & advanced before chipping the ball over Bailey from outside the box & into the Kendal net for 4-2. Into added time, & from a Stan corner, a shot from sub Enwere was cleared just in front of the Kendal goal line. The ball came back in, but Hornsby headed wide.

So, after taking a comfortable 3-0 lead, the Stan had to endure a nervy spell in the 2nd half when Kendal got back into the match with 2 goals. Everything was fine in the end after Storey scored with 6 minutes to go & it was good to see Djalo finally score for the club which he did 3 times. The Stan are back in cup action on Saturday but this time in the FA Trophy when they host Wythenshawe, but the win tonight means that the Stan senior team still have 2 chances to reach Wembley.

Stan Team: Lister; Evans (Boothroyd 56); Hornsby; Kanda; Milburn; Fil; Djalo (Morris 80); Gascoigne; Pearson (Enwere 88); Giraud (Storey 64): Errington (Hopper 64). All Subs used. No cards. Attendance: 342. Man of the Match: Sado Djalo.

Kevin Mochrie

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