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Neil Davis

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D W L L L W L W D W

 

Southport (H) 4.11.00

The Pitmen finally see off the challenge of Ryman Premier League visitors Billericay Town this evening after an extra-time own goal from Russell Penn sent the hosts through to face League Two Oldham Athletic in the first round proper of this season's F.A. Cup

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Saturday's stalemate at the New Lodge had been an entertaining affair, although neither side had shown much in the way of aptitude in front of goal to settle the tie at the first time of asking. Hednesford manager John Baldwin made just the one change for tonight's replay as Val Owen came back into the side in place of Neil Pointon, with Mark Cooper assuming the captaincy in the absence of the former Oldham man

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Billericay had shown a willingness and spirit to bridge the one division gap between the sides at the weekend, carving out several chances to take the win on Saturday. Blues manager Gary Calder also made just one change to his starting XI that had started the first tie as Justin Gentle came in ahead of Jeff Woolsey

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The Keys Park pitch had taken something of a battering over the past twenty-four hours, with consistent showers falling on the surface and putting the game in some doubt on Monday morning. A mid-afternoon pitch inspection by a local referee deemed the pitch playable, however, despite concerns for the ground staff that there was still standing water in some places

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The slick pitch was certainly something of a leveller in the opening exchanges as both sides struggled to create any chances of note in the first ten minutes of the game. Stuart Lake's up and under in the fifth minute was chased down by Neil Davis, who looked to pull the ball back into the path of Paul Bagshaw, only for the ball to skip away from the reach of the winger as he arrived in the Billericay penalty area

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Joe Baker had been the pick of the Billericay side at the weekend, pulling all of the strings in the centre of the pitch for the hosts as the conduit from defence to attack. His clever through ball three minutes later found Kevin Jordan down the left-wing, who took Stuart Evans on and squeezed the ball past him to cross low into the near post area, where Mark Gayle was alert to smother the ball ahead of skipper Dean Parratt

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Another fine pass from Baker saw him loft a free-kick into the Hednesford penalty area in the eleventh minute of the game, finding the head of Richard Dunwell who could only loop the ball straight into the hands of Gayle on his six-yard line

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The heavy underfoot conditions denied the hosts another chance in the fifteenth minute as Lee Colkin's pass bounced in front of Davis and skipped away from the striker as he looked to clip the ball past Gavin King in the Billericay goal

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Four minutes later, Scott Bonsall was pulled down to the left-hand edge of the Billericay penalty area by Penn, allowing Cooper to come across and whip a free-kick into the penalty area that somehow drifted over the heads of everyone arriving in the penalty area and drifted wide of King's far post

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Midway through the first half, an indecisive moment from Cooper saw the midfielder bring the ball out of his own penalty area and get caught in two minds as to what to do, allowing Gentle to steal the ball from him and drive it back into the penalty area, where Lake was on hand to make a timely block to save his skipper's blushes

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The visitors were playing the better of the football at this point in the game, pushing their higher-level hosts back into their own third of the pitch. Another impressive performer on Saturday was Paul Linger, who played a one-two with Baker on twenty-six minutes before striking a long-range shot at goal that Gayle watched over his crossbar

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Just before the half-hour mark, the Pitmen almost gifted the away side the tie's opening goal as a corner kick from Linger was inexplicably headed towards his own goal by Lake's glancing header, forcing Gayle into a one-handed save to turn the ball over the crossbar for another corner to the visitors

 

Back came the Pitmen and a fine run from Stewart Airdrie created some space for Owen in midfield on thirty-two minutes, with the former Northwich man taking a couple of touches before shooting low at goal from twenty-five yards out; his effort lacked pace, however, and was easily fielded by King

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Four minutes later and somewhat against the run of play, the Pitmen finally opened the scoring in the tie as some quick passing in midfield saw Cooper and Bagshaw link up well to bamboozle Chris Moore, who brought the Hednesford captain down right on the edge of the penalty area. Lake stepped up to take the resultant free-kick and unleashed an unstoppable low drive that flew through the wall and into the net via a touch off the base of King's right-hand post

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With their tails up, the hosts pushed forwards in search of a second goal ahead of half-time; Colkin and Bagshaw exchanged passes down the left on thirty-nine minutes, with Colkin's deep cross headed tamely over the crossbar by the late-arriving Davis at the far post

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Sixty seconds later, Bradley also headed over for the Pitmen as Cooper's recycled corner kick was met by the veteran centre-back, standing six yards from goal but under pressure from Moore

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With a minute of the first period remaining, Gayle produced a wonderful save to maintain the hosts' lead as the dangerous Baker picked up the ball from deep and drove into space before striking a great effort from twenty yards out that forced the Hednesford stopper into a superb flying stop to turn the ball over the crossbar

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Despite the conditions, both sides had once again given a good account of themselves going forwards, although the hosts will probably feel a little fortunate at being 1-0 up at the break after spending much of the opening quarter of the game inside their own third of the pitch

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Billericay made a strong start to the second half, with blue shirts piling forwards in the first five minutes after half-time as they looked for an immediate leveller; three successive corners tested the Pitmen's resolve, with Baker's outswinging corner volleyed just wide of goal by Dunwell on forty-nine minutes as he was left unmarked on the penalty spot

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Penn's throw-in down the right on fifty-two minutes was picked up by Baker, who tested and turned to get past Colkin before crossing to the far post, where Gayle punched the ball behind to deny Parratt a free header from a couple of yards out

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Two minutes later, Evans picked up the game's first booking as he was penalised by referee Mr Crossley for deliberately tripping Linger to stop him from escaping down the Billericay left

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Linger's run and lay-off on fifty-six minutes set up Dunwell once more, who this time sold Bradley a clever dummy on the edge of the penalty area before he pulled a low driven shot across Gayle's goal and just wide of the goalkeeper's left-hand post

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The visitors finally got themselves back on level terms on fifty-eight minutes with a well-taken goal from their man of the match Baker as a drifting cross from Penn down the right was headed back across goal by Gentle to the incoming midfielder, who turned well and volleyed past Gayle from fifteen yards out

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The Pitmen should have regained the lead three minutes later with their first shot in anger in the second half as Davis worked the right-hand touchline well, jinking his way past Dave Culverhouse and crossing towards Bagshaw, who was a matter of inches away from tapping home at the far post but could not quite apply the finish from close-range

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Davis - leading the line with aplomb for the hosts and a constant threat to the Billericay defence with his movement - linked up well with Bagshaw on sixty-four minutes as he raced onto the winger's clever slide-rule pass, holding off the challenge of Linger before striking a low shot across the face of goal but pulling his shot wide of the far post with King at full stretch

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Another strong run from Airdrie was checked by Moore on sixty-eight minutes, allowing Cooper and Lake to line up a free-kick twenty yards from goal. On this occasion, Lake opted to roll the ball across to Owen whose low drive took two bounces off the sodden turf and skipped wide of King's right-hand post

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You felt that the long trip up from Essex was starting to take its toll on the visitors who started to look leggy and were second to most of the fifty-fifty challenges in the final twenty minutes of normal time. The step one hosts started to up the tempo as they looked to force home a winner inside ninety minutes, with Airdrie and Bagshaw given licence to roam around the pitch at will to stretch the Blues defenders out of position

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King was alert to a drifting cross from Colkin on seventy-three minutes as the breeze caught the left-back's cross and took it towards goal, forcing the former Bishop's Stortford stopper into a one-handed save

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More wing wizardry from Airdrie two minutes later saw the Yorkshireman make a typically drifting run inside from the flank, leaving two players in his wake before shooting narrowly wide of goal with an angled drive from fifteen yards out

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With eleven minutes remaining, Cooper won the ball in the centre circle and spotted Davis on the move, clipping the ball through the tired-looking Billericay defence and into the path of the striker, who shanked his shot on the run just wide of the target

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Despite the Pitmen looking a good bet to finish the job in the latter stages of the game, Billericay forced Gayle into a fine save two minutes later as Baker's run and pass played Dunwell into space, with the forward's rising shot from eighteen yards out bringing out a wonderful save from Gayle as he acrobatically turned the ball over the crossbar

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Back came the Pitmen, who spent three straight minutes camped inside the Billericay penalty area looking to work a chance against a well-drilled Blues defence. Lake's low shot on eighty-seven minutes was deflected into the path of Bonsall by Moore, only for the former Eastwood Town man to weakly chip the ball wide of goal

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With a minute of normal time remaining, Billericay looked to take the sting out of the Pitmen's attack as Jordan was booked for deliberately stopping Cooper from taking a quick free-kick thirty yards from goal

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So, extra time it was to be then, with Baldwin resisting the temptation to freshen up his tiring side despite seemingly preparing Keith Russell for action during the turnaround but not utilising him

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An early warning shot from the Pitmen came within two minutes of the restart as Lake's flick-on from a Cooper free-kick dropped into the path of Davis, who chested the ball down but scuffed his shot wide of goal from ten yards out

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The crucial moment of the tie came on ninety-six minutes as the Pitmen stole into the lead once more; Bagshaw - playing on the right having switched wings with Airdrie at the start of extra time - took Culverhouse on and pulled the ball back into the danger zone, where Davis was arriving at the far post. Penn was tracking the run of the striker and got in front of the former Aston Villa man, but watched on in horror as his attempted clearance skipped off the greasy turf and ended up in the back of his own net

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The Pitmen's tempo slowed due to them taking the lead, with Owen dropping into a more defensive role in midfield to protect the defence for the remainder of extra time. Billericay looked out on their feet and out of ideas and offered little to no threat to the Hednesford back line in the remainder of the game

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A couple of minutes before half-time in extra time, Airdrie made another run down the left flank and sent Davis clear of the Billericay defence, only for an offside flag to deny the striker a clear shot at goal which would surely have clinched the tie

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On 105 minutes, both Airdrie and Penn were shown a yellow card apiece after the Billericay man had fouled the winger, prompting an angry reaction from the Hednesford man and leading to a bout of pushing and shoving amongst both sets of players

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The second period of extra time was played at a slow and plodding pace, with Billericay simply having nothing left in the tank to pressure the Pitmen in the final fifteen minutes. Long spells of keep-ball in midfield from the Pitmen saw them hold onto possession for long spells of the game, with Cooper's long-range shot on 110 minutes drifting into the Heath Hayes terrace, prompting ironic cheers from the meagre Keys Park crowd 

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Culverhouse was the final player of the evening to be booked on 113 minutes as a late and tired challenge from the full-back on Bagshaw sent the former Barnsley man sprawling

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Three minutes later, the Pitmen brought on Ian Robinson in place of the tiring Owen in midfield as an extra insurance policy in midfield for the final minutes of the game

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With two minutes of the game remaining, Billericay forced a late corner kick through Dunwell's run an attempted shot that was deflected behind by Lake. Linger's cross was headed up in the air by Moore but claimed by Gayle before Parratt could challenge

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The hosts move into the first round proper of this season's competition for a club-record fifth season in a row and will host League Two strugglers Oldham at Keys Park on 18th November. Before then, Baldwin's side return to Nationwide Conference duty at the weekend as they look to improve their league position with victory over sixth-placed Southport

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Hednesford Town: Gayle, Evans ▆, Colkin, Lake, Bradley, Cooper ©, Airdrie ▆, Owen (Robinson 116), Davis, Bagshaw, Bonsall     Subs Unused: Pointon, Russell, Haran, Carney

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Billericay Town: King, Penn ▆, Culverhouse ▆, Linger, Moore, Baker (Spencer 105), Gentle, Williams, Dunwell, Parratt © (Southgate 105), Jordan ▆ (Henty 90)       Subs Unused: Shiret, Newell

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