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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