Spot of bother
Both FA Trophy semi-final ties were settled, perhaps unsatisfactorily, by penalty kicks. I have no idea why the FA have continued with games going straight to penalties after 90 minutes, a measure they introduced during Covid. Both games had late equalisers that forced the ties to penalties. At Altrincham, FC Halifax Town equalised in stoppage time through Millenic Alli to make it 1-1 and then succeeded in the penalty shoot-out.
Heed keep their head
At Gateshead, the home side squandered a 3-0 lead to Barnet, with Harry Pritchard scoring deep into stoppage time to force a penalty shoot-out. When it came to penalty kicks, Gateshead kept calmer, it would seem, as they won comfortably on penalties by 4-1 to reach the FA Trophy final for the first time.
Barnet can now refocus on their ambitions to reach the Football League through the playoffs, while Gateshead will need to make use of their games in hand to keep away from relegation to the National North.
B&Q may run out of green paint
Last season, I had the pleasure of meeting some cheerful Newport Pagnell Town supporters at Wembley and watched them beat Littlehampton 3-0 in the final of the FA Vase. The Green Army from a town more associated with M1 services were in good voice and came to Wembley with their #turnwembleygreen mission. To be fair, they played really well on the day. On Saturday, they beat Congleton Town on penalties to reach the final for the second successive year. They will face Ascot United, who also needed to pull back a 2-1 deficit to get the chance to win from the spot.
Quick starts
Alfie Lloyd scored for Eastleigh on New Year’s Day after just 7.12 seconds. Is this the fastest National League ever? Not so, as Colin Couperthwaite’s goal for Barrow in 1979 came after 3.55 seconds. Marc Burrows, coincidentally a former Eastleigh player, has an even more impressive record of scoring after 2.56 seconds when playing for Cowes Reserves in 2004. The Cowes game wasn’t against ‘uddersfield, unfortunately.
Everything is in order
The EBAC Northern League Division Two may not contain too many teams that most are familiar with, but it includes eight teams with names beginning
with B. Indeed, five of the Bs are bunched between second and sixth, namely Boro Rangers, Billingham Town, Birtley Town, Bedlington Terriers and Blyth Town. If only Brandon United, Boldon, and Billingham Synthonia could have put in a bit more effort. The bottom seven are also in alphabetical order, ranging from Billingham Synthonia to Willington. Arsenal to win the Premier League and West Ham and Wolves to go down would get some order to higher echelons of football.
Big Macc
Good times are returning to Macclesfield. The phoenix club guaranteed back-to-back promotions on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Trafford in the Northern Premier League West Division in front of 4,034 supporters. The next biggest crowd in the division was at the top-of-the-table clash between Clitheroe and Leek Town, which the home side won 1-0. Macclesfield will be one more promotion away from National League North football next season. Can they achieve three promotions in a row?
Cuckoos clocked
I wondered how the Northern Premier League Midlands Division between Yaxley and Hinckley Leicester Road would pan out last weekend. Yaxley have
the unfortunate record of conceding over 100 goals this season and are rooted to the bottom. Their opponents are just below midway and have the record of being both one of the division’s lowest scorers and lowest conceders. When the teams met, the scoreline was 0-0. Sadly, only 42 people were fascinated enough to turn up in person for this event.
Young rams
Pat Suraci and Joe Lea are Wessex League side joint managers at Petersfield Town in Hampshire. The club is in the playoff spots and has the Wessex League Cup Final to look forward to after beating Fareham Town on penalties. What’s surprising about Pat and Joe is that their joint ages are 49, 24 and 25, respectively. Taking over the management role last summer after running teenage teams, the pair, like the name of one of their divisional opponents, has exceeded expectations since the Andover. Come on, you Rams of Petersfield!
Criminal performance by Sutton United
Sutton United were under the cosh when they faced the Met Police in the Surrey Senior Cup last week. The game ended with a 5-0 win for the Met Police, who are just outside the playoff places in the Southern League Premier South Division. I couldn’t help noticing that the Met Police’s substitute was A. Body. Is this something like the A.N.Others that often appeared in match programmes for pre-season friendlies, or something entirely more suspicious that is under investigation?
