It was Semi Final 1st Leg day in the FA Vase and I was at Pack Meadow on the outskirts of Birmingham to see hosts Coleshill Town entertain competition favourites South Shields in front of a record 1,755 crowd at their tiny but neat home.
The hosts were having and good season, sitting second in the Midland Premier Division, and were on a thirteen game winning run until their defeat at Shawbury United last weekend, although compared to the season the visitors were having it didn’t seem as good.
Ever since the North East side from the outskirts of Newcastle lost to rivals North Shields on Guy Fawkes night they have won 22 games in a row as they chase the record of 27 consecutive victories set by Welsh Premier side The New Saints earlier this season, eclipsing the previous record set by the mighty Ajax in 1972 of 26 games.
However records would of been towards the back of everyone’s mind as they tried to gain an advantage in this tie and get ever closer to that Wembley finale. However it was the hosts who had the brighter start and on 8 minutes saw a Joshua Quaynor effort tipped over by Shields keeper Liam Connell.
Three minutes later a decent effort from Robert Evans tested Shields Connell again and then in the 19th minute a hosts free kick from the left was swung into the area and saw it glanced over the goal by Jordan Nadat. It had certainly shown anyone present that the hosts were intent on giving the visitors a proper test out there.
The visitors first real opening came midway through the half when a dangerous ball into the box was cleared over the bar by a defender however in the 27th minute the hosts were on the front foot again and after a decent ball forward tried to find forward Nadat, keeper Connell came out but could only blast a clearance at Nadat which hit the Coleshill forward but went well wide.
On 32 minutes a corner from the hosts saw Evans get in front of his marker but head well wide and then a minute later came a rare chance for Shields which saw David Foley find space inside the area but his effort was superbly blocked by a sprawling defender.
The game had taken on a end to end feel at this point and on 34 minutes Nadat thought he had given the hosts the lead however only a great save from Connell denied the forwards curling effort, this after the ball had been given away by the visitors, and a couple of minutes later up the other end the ball broke to Michael Richardson inside the hosts box, but he failed to hit the target, hitting wide of the near post.
Coleshill had created the better chances in the opening half though and just as you thought they would go in without anything to show for it they found a breakthough right on half time as a cross from the left saw a Nadat effort saved by Connell from point blank range, but the ball came back to Nadat who buried the rebound and celebrated with the fans behind that goal. It was a deserved lead for the hosts and Shields knew they were in a game for sure.
Half Time Coleshill Town 1 South Shields 0
The visitors knew they had to come out and take the game to their opponents and two minutes into the half they found an equaliser as the dangerous Foley managed to get on the end of a cross and net a close range rebound after keeper Paul Hathaway had saved initially, and roared on by 500-600 Shields fans the visitors had their tails up and Richardson headed wide of the far post as they went for the lead.
The hosts managed to whether that storm though and started to threaten themselves again, and on the hour mark saw a cross catch keeper Connell out and the ball come off the woodwork and then four minutes later another good save at the near post from Shields Connell kept out a free kick from Thomas Weale.
With twenty minutes left a great ball found Shields sub Carl Finnigan whose effort was well saved by Paul Hathaway and then the hosts came so close to taking the lead once again a minute later when they thumped an effort against the inside of the post and then saw the ball fly across goal and headed off the line by a very fortunate Shields.
In the 77th minute the hosts got away with one when keeper Hathaway came out and miskicked a clearance straight to Richardson, and with the keeper in no man’s land Richardson returned an effort towards the empty net but it bounced inches wide of the post.
It had certainly been a battle and a half out there and you thought could their be a late twist in this one? Well just as the game ticked over the 90 minute mark Shields managed to find a huge goal in this tie as Foley drove into the area, crossed to Darren Lough, whose effort hit Andrew Stephenson from a yard out and went into the net to send the visitors fans crazy.
Coleshill tried to find a late late leveller but found the Shields defence solid and the referee finally ended the game after several minutes of injury time and the visitors continued that winning run although more importantly took a lead back to Mariners Park for the second leg in a weeks time.
Defeat was tough on the hosts however they showed more than enough in this one that they can cause many issues for the North East side and an early goal in the second leg from Coleshill could unsettle the favourites so this one is far from over!!!
Full Time Coleshill Town 1 South Shields 2
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