Wakefield  1
Nantwich Town 1
FA Trophy (1st Round Qualifying)

Match Report

FA Trophy.1st Qualifying Round

Wakefield FC 1 v NANTWICH TOWN 1
Graham Marchant.77. Glyn Blackhurst.58.

Wakefield FC: Danny Trueman. Steve Nicholson. Will Ryder. Bobby Stevenson. Wes Milner. Craig Laight. Delroy Ferguson. Jay Sobers. Graham Marchant. Chris Howarth. Demi Kyriacou. Substitutes: Tom Bucknall. Ashley Duncan. Marc Townsend. Andy Battye. Andy Woods.

NANTWICH TOWN: Rob Hackney. Paul Donnelly. Paul Taylor. Richard Smith. Ryan Dicker. Phil Parkinson © Ashley Carter. Glyn Blackhurst.(Beasley 88). Andy Bott. Pavol Suhaj.(Kinsey 76). Danny Griggs. Substitutes: Andy Kinsey. Adam Beasley. Nick Linford. Gyorgy Kiss. Dave Kocjak g/k.

Nantwich were first to threaten when a Danny Griggs 22 yard 4th minute free kick forced goalkeeper Trueman to brilliantly tip over the bar after the ball looked destined for the top right hand corner of the net. From the flag kick, Andy Bott was a mere whisker away with a glancing header that agonizingly inched past the far post.

Bott then missed a great chance to put ‘The Dabbers’ ahead after an initial shot from Suhaj rebounded off a defender and with the goal keeper stranded it left an unguarded net in which to place the ball but,from 15 yards,Bott snatched at the shot which fell wide of the left hand post. Wakefield were hardly in the game at that point but,managed to win a couple of corners before Nantwich attacked again.

A 26th minute Nantwich corner was frustratingly over hit by Griggs whilst on the half hour Bott mis kicked a shot that struck the goal keeper before a Paul Donnelly cross from deep,aimed for Suhaj, went straight through to Wakefield custodian Trueman.

Despite an excellent playing surface at College Road, the game hardly flowed in favour of either side, although Nantwich looked the more likely of the two sides to take the lead.

Almost on the stroke of half time, ‘The Dabbers’ had a narrow escape when Rob Hackney missed a cross from the left with no Wakefield player on hand to take advantage whilst at the other end, Laight was forced to head behind at the expense of a corner. Then, right on the stroke of half time, Glyn Blackhurst was unlucky with a close range header after he stole in from behind the Wakefield defence to finish narrowly wide of the right hand post.

A minute into the restart, Nantwich central defender Ryan Dicker made a timely intervention when he halted the dangerous looking run of Ferguson just inside the left of the box. Stevenson then wasted an opportunity with a powerful shot from deep that was well off target whilst at the other end Bott had a great chance from close range but, the downward header from 8 yards lacked power allowing Trueman to easily take the ball.

Pressure from the visitors finally paid a dividend when ‘The Dabbers’ deservedly took a 58th minute lead through Glyn Blackhurst. In the build up to the goal, Nantwich pushed the home side well back into their box before a cross from the left was picked up by the midfielder who broke through the central defence, drawing Trueman off his line and slotting into the back of the net from 10 yards.

Ashley Carter worked the ball in from the right to bring Blackhurst into play in the 65th minute but, the final ball from the scorer of the opening goal was poor. Two minutes later Wakefield stepped up their pace and began to make inroads into the Nantwich half but,for the most part, a lack of quality and thinking made for wasted effort. However,with the tie approaching the 70th minute a dangerous looking ball delivered from deep on the Nantwich left almost resulted in an own goal after the cross struck the head of Suhaj before falling narrowly wide for a corner.

A Danny Griggs free kick in the 72nd minute struck the wall and then hacked away before Carter was flagged offside during a period when the winger continuously probed the home defence. However,in the 77th minute, and totally against the run of play, the Nantwich defence allowed Marchant to steal in from the right hand edge of the 6 yard box to plant a deft header across the body of Hackney into the far top corner of the net for the equalizing goal.

Shortly after the equalizer Hackney got down to make a diving save from Sobers whilst at the other end Trueman saved from Carter. A minute from time, ‘Dabbers’ substitute striker Andy Kinsey twisted and turned in front of the central defence before hitting a 15 yard shot just wide of the right hand post, whilst right on the stroke of normal time, a Danny Griggs cross from deep sailed straight through Trueman’s outstretched arms with no Nantwich player on hand to tuck away the loose ball.

Nantwich head coach Steve Davis felt his side were more than capable of winning at the first attempt but, said: “ Despite playing against a side that played five at the back and four in midfield, which didn’t allow for much space to work in, we created chances, though fell short in the finishing. That said, we get a second crack at it on Tuesday night back at our place and I’m confident the lads will finish the job on the night”.

Match report written by Phil Johnson