The Stan started the road to Wembley for the 14th time in 102 years and played their 24th match in the competition playing Pickering Town for the 1st time ever. Hoping to win their 7th FA Cup match, the Stan made 4 changes from Wednesday night’s league defeat against Penrith including Flynn replacing Purvis in goal.

The visitors started on the attack and had most of the ball for the first 7 minutes. In 8 minutes Norton, the Pickering keeper, had to parry away a Bailey shot from a Cassidy corner. He then caught an Anderson headed effort from a Cassidy free kick. Cassidy then shot wide from another free kick. The few minutes of Stan pressure paid off in 12 minutes when a Stan counter attack saw Hopper advance into the visitor’s penalty box & pass to Anderson who scored a great goal under pressure.

There was some more Stan pressure although in 15 minutes Evans, who had a good game, made a great clearance. There was action in both halves & Flynn had to make 2 catches. In 22 minutes a Stan speculative long range shot was caught by the wind & Norton managed to put it out for a corner. From it, 2 Stan efforts were cleared from in front of the goal line. Pickering then broke & shot wide.

Both teams continued to have efforts & in 30 minutes Evans cleared an effort off the goal line. After an initial Bailey block, Pickering headed wide in 33 minutes. There was a quieter period until a minute before half time when Stephenson supplied the advancing Hopper who headed straight at Norton. The half finished with a Pickering attack. Although the Stan deserved their lead, the match was far from over yet.

Immediately from kick off at the beginning of the 2nd half, the Stan nearly took the pressure off themselves when Hopper advanced & shot but the ball hit the post & went out. Pickering then had a few minutes of pressure including shooting over the bar in 51 minutes. The Stan though had started positive & were now getting balls into the Pickering box but then were unable to get the final shot in.

There was now a period of mainly Stan pressure although the defence was also working hard when Pickering got the chance to counter. In 58 minutes, there was a good opportunity for the Stan when a Stephenson long ball to Hopper saw him cross into the box but no one could get to the ball. Cowburn eventually shot over from the edge of the box. Flynn then made a great double save. Hopper, from an Anderson pass, shot just wide from outside the box 2 minutes later. 5 minutes later & Flynn got down for a greats save from a long range effort.

Both teams looked threatening with continuous attacks & counter attacks but without any end result. Ward replaced Hopper in 72 minutes & brought some new energy to the Stan attack. With 13 minutes to go, chances were getting rarer although those that materialised were now going to Pickering although Evans especially was working hard to stop them.

In 83 minutes Ward had a header deflected for a corner but then it was backs to the wall again for the Stan. The Stan continued to work hard & in 89 minutes created an effort when Anderson rode a challenge & passed to Stephenson who was blocked & so eventually was Shephard. 5 minutes of added time saw both teams trying to score with Ward especially working hard up front. In the 95th minute, the ball broke for Anderson who only had the keeper to beat & shot in the box but Norton managed to block for a corner just before the final whistle.

The Stan were the better team overall & did enough to win the match but Pickering threatened at times to get an equaliser although the Stan team worked well to prevent them while also seeking a 2nd goal to make the score more comfortable.

Kevin Mochrie

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