FA Vase 1st Qualifying Round – Replay
Stone Old Alleynians 2-1 Ellesmere Rangers
A stunning 30 yard volley from Carl Dibden and another excellent distance strike from Dean Buckley ensured a memorable cup victory for the Old Boys in front of a bumper crowd at Wellbeing Park last night.
Leading 2-0 at the interval, the Alleynians were given a scare when Rangers’ Scott Ryan pulled a goal back minutes after the restart, but the home side’s resolute defending kept their higher league opposition at bay to set-up a clash with Ellesmere’s West Midlands Premier Division rivals Gornal Athletic in the next round.
The Alleynians started tentatively and were perhaps wary of the pace of the Ellesmere frontline, who caused problems for the Old Boys back four in the early stages of Saturday’s clash between these two sides. An effort from Ryan in the opening minutes took an awkward bounce past Stone’s Lewis Paglia and almost left the goalkeeper stranded, but the ball came back off the post to give the hosts an early let-off.
As things settled down it was the Old Boys who looked more likely to break the deadlock, though Dibden didn’t so much as break it as tear it down and smash it to pieces. The forward stunned the watching crowd as he fired a first-time volley past Mason Springthorpe in the Ellesmere goal from well outside the area, putting the underdogs in front in breathtaking fashion.
Dibden’s constant harassment of Ellesmere’s defenders was proving troublesome for the visitors, and his pressing high up the pitch then forced an error that allowed Buckley a sight of goal. The midfielder didn’t hesitate and blasted a superb effort into Springthorpe’s top corner on the stroke of half time to give the Old Boys an unlikely 2-0 lead. It was to prove Buckley’s last contribution, he had been walking a tightrope since an earlier yellow card and was replaced by Cameron Sinclair for the second period.
The interval came at the right time for Rangers, and their respite allowed them to come out firing as the second half kicked off. Within minutes, Ryan had himself on the scoresheet. The Alleynians were dispossessed high up the pitch, and a long ball unlocked the home defence to free Ryan, who slotted coolly into the far corner to give his side a route back into the tie.
A change in formation saw Ellesmere deploy three in attack to force an equaliser, but centre-back Luke Askey and the rest of his defence were equal to everything Rangers threw at them. Barely losing a header all night, Askey’s resolve was never in doubt, and his team-mates followed suit as their backs were often pushed to the wall.
The toll of playing 120 minutes on Saturday began to show as the clock ticked down, and Rangers almost found a way through when Mike Jordan ghosted into the box, but the striker fired his effort narrowly wide and wasted his side’s best chance of an equaliser, allowing the Alleynians to hang on for a famous victory.
“This is a huge win for the club against a higher-level opponent,” said Old Boys manager Matthew Smith after the game.
“We’ve done it over two games, which shows that we deserve it all the more in my opinion. Credit to Ellesmere they’re a very good side and pushed us all the way, but we had what it took to win tonight. We scored two brilliant goals and knew we would be under pressure at times but defended really well, which bodes well for the next round.”
“The work rate and intensity of our players was outstanding tonight,” continued Smith. “We will look to take that into Saturday as we have a big league game against Bromyard Town who are currently top of the league having played two more games than us, so we will need another big performance. The supporters were great tonight and helped create the atmosphere to lift the players and see us over the line. I am sure they will have been impressed with the football we played and the commitment shown from the lads, and we hope to get similar crowds down to watch us more often and help us build on our positive start to the season”.
Stone Old Alleynians: Paglia, Hewitt, Wilson, Askey, Bigham, Thorley, Buckley (Sinclair), Matthews, Griffiths (c), Thomas (I Whalley), Dibden (Griffin)
Unused Subs: Hodgkinson, Renshaw
