After equalling the record set 77 years ago, the Stan narrowly bowed out of the FA Cup at the 2nd qualifying round to Trafford. Although newly relegated to tier 5, Trafford had started the season well & were never going to be walkovers. After coming from behind, it looked liked the Stan were going to earn a replay in Manchester but a late Trafford goal from a penalty ended their Wembley dream for this season. There were 2 changes from Tuesday’s narrow home defeat to Dunston with Shepherd & new loan signing Dan Savage replacing Gell & Chrisp. It was Leighton Hoppers 201st appearance & the other new loan signing, Dan Kemp, was cup tied.

On a windy afternoon, the kick off was delayed for 30 minutes due to the late arrival of the Trafford coach due to heavy traffic. Although the Stan had had most of the ball so far, the 1st real action happened in the 6th minute when a mistake by a Trafford defender allowed Savage to get the ball, but his diagonal shot went just wide. Soon after, a wind assisted diagonal Trafford ball into the box went well wide. In the 12th minute, a Stan attack was cleared & the ball was sent back in to the Trafford box towards Savage, but Beard the Trafford keeper got to it 1st. There was then an easy catch for Beard but only after the wind had initially blown the ball out of his hands. In 15 minutes, a Stan attack was cleared allowing a Trafford player to break but Milburn cleared the ball. A joined-up Stan attack after 20 minutes saw Gascoigne send a ball into the Trafford box but Giraud sliced his shot wide. Trafford then sent a ball from a free kick into the Stan box, but it went wide. In 22 minutes, an injured Milburn had to be replaced by Boothroyd. In 23 minutes, a Trafford player broke but sliced his shot wide when 1 on 1 with Lister. Trafford then attacked again but the shot went wide. Trafford then pressurised again & Lister had to make a great save. In 28 minutes, Giraud broke with the ball towards the Trafford box & was brought down just outside it. The Gascoigne free kick hit the wall & soon after Trafford shot wide at the other end. There was some more Trafford pressure in the 33rd minute when they shot over the Stan bar. The wind was making it difficult for both teams to play but in 36 minutes a Savage shot into a busy Trafford box was blocked. 2 minutes later & a free kick from Gascoigne was easily caught by Beard. The Stan attacked again before a Trafford diagonal shot went just wide. In the 41st minute, a Savage shot was blocked & the follow up effort by Kanda went over the Trafford bar. In the 45th minute a high wind assisted Trafford ball into the Stan 6-yard box was just put out for a corner. The ball from the resulting corner was blocked then cleared. In the 3rd of 3 added minutes, & a Trafford player cut into the Stan box on the left & his diagonal ball went across the goal & into the bottom right-hand corner of the Stan net for 0-1. It was a bad time to go behind although Trafford had had the better chances.

The Stan started the 2nd half chasing the game & after a quiet start it was Lister who had to get down & save in the 50th minute. A minute later & a Stan attack was blocked followed by Beard having to catch. In 54 minutes, a Giraud cross in from the left was headed by Walker, but the ball was caught by Beard. It was all Stan pressure as another Stan attack was blocked. In 61 minutes, Hopper shot wide. The Stan pressure finally paid off in the 69th minute when they equalised. A ball was sent into the Trafford box to Storey, who had only been on the pitch for 2 minutes, & although his shot was blocked his rebound effort went into the net. A minute later & Shepherd had to block for a corner from which the ball was cleared. It was then back to Stan pressure & a long ball from Walker reached Errington, but Beard got out to clear. In the 76th minute, a Trafford player appeared to dive in the box, but the referee awarded a penalty. Although Lister dived the correct way, the ball went under him & into the net for 1-2. After some mass handbags in the 78th minute, a Stan attack was cleared. Boothroyd then supplied sub Errington who crossed the ball into the box for the advancing Walker, but his spliced shot went over the bar. The Stan were now desperate to get an equaliser & in 83 minutes a Lister free kick from halfway was headed on but Beard caught the ball. Soon after, Beard had to catch the ball again. In 86 minutes, a Trafford free kick into the Stan box was headed away by both Kanda & sub Morris before a follow up shot was caught by Lister. In 89 minutes, Trafford threatened again when a high ball across the Stan goal saw Lister get back to save when it looked like the ball was going into the net. To the bewilderment of most spectators, Storey was then sent off & a free kick given to Trafford just outside the Stan box. The red card was apparently for dissent. The ball from the free kick went over the Stan bar & the rest of the 6 added minutes saw mainly continued pressure from the Stan. In 92 minutes, the Stan won a corner which Giraud took & sent the ball into the 6-yard box. Beard caught but couldn’t hold the ball but Boothroyd put his follow up effort over the bar. In 95 minutes, Beard got to a Lister long ball just before Boothroyd did. A minute later Kanda failed to clear allowing a Trafford player to win the ball. With only Lister to beat, he shot just wide. The Stan had 1 more attack before the final whistle was blown.So the Stan failed to reach the 3rd qualifying round for the 1st time & are back in league action when they visit West Auckland on Tuesday night.

Stan Team: Lister; Fil; Hornsby (Y) (Morris 83); Kanda; Milburn (Boothroyd 22); Shepherd; Walker; Gascoigne (Storey (R) 67); Hopper (Errington 67); Giroud; Savage. Sub unused: Chrisp. Attendance: 473. Man of the Match: Joe Shepherd.  

Kevin Mochrie

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The Stan’s FA Cup dream continues after a narrow win over Knaresborough Town & they have reached the second Qualifying Round for only the second time with the first being 77 years ago. It was a close & on at least 2 occasions a controversial match but after going ahead after 40 minutes the Stan deserved to hold on to win. There were 2 changes from Monday’s win over Ashington with Hornsby & Djalo replacing Evans & Errington. The match saw Dale Pearson make his 50th start for the Stan.

On a sunny afternoon, Knaresborough from a tier below the Stan in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division, hoped to cause a FA Cup upset. They were 1st to threaten in the 4th minute when they shot wide of the Stan goal. 3 minutes later & Lister got down to stop an effort from an advancing Knaresborough player. In the 8th minute, the Stan thought they had scored from a Gascoigne corner when Hall, the Knaresborough keeper, dropped the ball & it looked like it had crossed the goal line, but the referee disagreed. In the 13th minute, Pearson supplied Giraud, but he shot just wide. Giraud was looking dangerous again in the 21st minute when, from a Lister long free kick, he passed a defender but his ball into the centre of the box missed everyone. 3 minutes later & a Knaresborough long range effort was deflected for a corner. After a quieter period, in 37 minutes, Pearson came close to scoring when he blasted the ball just over the bar after being supplied by Giraud. The Stan took the lead in the 40th minute when, from a Gascoigne free kick, Djalo headed into the Knaresborough net. The goal came after a relatively quiet 1st half & livened things up. A minute later a Knaresborough free kick into the Stan box was headed over but the flag was up for offside. 

Knaresborough started the 2nd half putting the Stan under pressure, but Lister collected the ball twice although the !st time involved him being fouled by a visiting player. Against the initial run of play in the 51st minute, Gascoigne supplied Djalo who turned & shot in the Knaresborough box but his effort hit the bar. After a quieter period, a ball from a Gascoigne corner was cleared. Soon after, Djalo & a Knaresborough player both jumped for the ball as it was sent forward into the Knaresborough box & the visiting player went down. Although the referee did not act initially, after complaints from Knaresborough players & speaking to the linesman Djalo was sent off for violent conduct in the 62nd minute. Soon after, Lister was flattened by a Knaresborough player who only received a yellow card. There was some Stan pressure in the 73rd minute although 2 minutes later a Knaresborough free kick went just over the Stan bar. In 77 minutes, Walker broke with the ball, which had been supplied by Pearson, but Hall dived at his feet to get the ball. 3 minutes later & a Knaresborough player deliberately collided with Lister. The visitors were getting more physical as they sought a way back into the game. In 84 minutes, a Knaresborough free kick into the Stan box saw Lister get up to punch the ball clear for a corner. From it, Lister punched clear a headed effort & the follow up shot from Knaresborough went well wide. In 86 minutes, a ball into the Stan box saw a Knaresborough player head the ball against the bar. As the visitors tried to keep the pressure on, a speculative long-range effort in the 89th minute was caught by Lister. Into 6 minutes of added time & Lister got up to catch another long-range effort & was flattened by a Knaresborough player in the process. Soon after, sub Boothroyd was brought down but nothing was given. Followed by 4 defenders, sub Errington twisted & turned as he approached the visitors’’ box & was brought down just outside it. From the resulting Gascoigne free kick, the ball went to Errington who dribbled the ball into the 6-yard box but was blocked for a corner. In 97 minutes, Knaresborough shot wide at the end of their 1st proper attack of added time. The final whistle came soon after & the Stan were through to the next round.

With a Wembley final still potentially on the cards, the Stan appropriately left the pitch to Doris Day’s rendition of Que Sera Sera. After only a 3-day break, the Stan next travel on Tuesday night to Morpeth Town who they play there in league action for the 1st time since April 1994.

Stan Team: Lister; Fil; Hornsby (Y); Kanda; Milburn; Shepherd; Gascoigne; Walker; Pearson (Boothroyd 90); Giraud (Errington 70); Djalo (R). Subs unused: Hopper; Storey; Morris. Attendance: 415. Man of the Match: Jay Hornsby.

Kevin Mochrie

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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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