In-form striker Danny Heard scored one and created another as the Old Boys came from behind to secure their passage into the last eight of the Staffordshire FA Vase with a 2-1 home win against Wyrley.
Heard’s second half equaliser cancelled out a Matt Burslem own goal before Luke Matthews added a winner for Matt Smith’s side.
“We showed a strong spirit to come from behind and win the game with two top quality goals,” said Smith afterwards. “We were made to work hard by a determined Wyrley outfit, and the manner in which we fell behind could have deflated us but I was very pleased with the comeback. We now have a few league fixtures to concentrate on, and hopefully we can take our recent form into those matches.”
Luke Askey had gone closest for the hosts in a first half bereft of any real chances, but his glancing header from a Paul Griffiths corner could only clip the top of the crossbar. Billy Thorley then saw himself played in but a poor first touch carried him wider than he would have liked, and the visiting goalkeeper was equal to his resulting effort.
Wyrley then took a fortuitous lead as a dangerous cross was fired in under the crossbar from the right, and the referee ruled Old Boys ‘keeper Burslem had had stepped backwards over the goal line as he claimed the ball under pressure.
Heard’s influence on the game began to grow in the second period though, and he finally found the net following good work from stand-in left back Sam Hodgkinson. The full back crossed from deep and Heard rose above his marker to connect with a brilliant looping header that left the Wyrley goalkeeper floundering as it found the far corner.
Heard then turned provider and his low cross from the right was met by left-midfielder Matthews, who opened his body up and used the pace of the delivery to guide the ball across the goalkeeper and into the net to give his side the lead.
The Old Boys were then forced to soak up pressure as the visitors pushed for an equaliser, but restricted their opponents to distance efforts and half chances. Wyrley’s best chance to level came when Burslem rushed out to close down an attacker, but the Wyrley man took the ball too wide to engineer a meaningful shot on goal.
As the game entered the final ten minutes Heard could have put the tie to bed, but after turning two defenders he struck his effort straight at the goalkeeper, much to the disdain of Thorley and Cameron Sinclair, who were queuing up for a tap in at the far post.
The Alleynians will lock horns with Wyrley again in the league this weekend, and will be hoping for a similar outcome on the road.
Stone OA: Burslem, Hodgkinson, Askey, Wilson, Bigham, Matthews (Buckley), Griffiths (c), C Heard (Thomas), Sinclair, D Heard, Thorley
Staffs County Senior League – League Cup
Stone OA Res 4-1 Betley Res
It was a mixed afternoon for Adam Tomkinson who scored twice before receiving his marching orders for two yellow card offences. Pete Birks and Keenan Powell also found the net for Kev Warrilow’s side, who conceded through a Betley penalty.
