|
Accrington, playing at Brunton Park despite the tie actually being their home game, started well in the match with Adam Black putting a cross in from the left which Jonathan Evans got a powerful left-footed volley on from 12 yards out. Ball though making an excellent save at his near-post, with Jordan Nield then thrashing the rebound into the side-netting from close range.
Moments later Sean Law for Carlisle latching onto a loose ball only to a pull his left-footed drive wide of the target. With seven minutes on the clock Ben Richards-Everton sent a pass down the left for Ryan Bowman to race onto, Bowman then pulling the ball back from the by-line for Manny Richardson to hit a 12-yard right-footed shot on the turn onto the outside of the Stanley far-post.
Four minutes later and a Brian McGrady cross in from the right for Accrington saw Black volley weakly at the back-post straight at the legs of United skipper James Wood. Stanley then in the 14th minute seeing Jordan Rimmer, in the middle of the box, head a McGrady ball in straight into the grateful arms of a well-positioned Ball.
Carlisle though responding sixty seconds later with a flicked header on from Bowman that only resulted in Richardson shooting well wide from 15 yards out. Richardson then in the 19th minute having an effort blocked on the edge of the box by Karl Dailey. Bowman then the man to shoot off target two minutes later when he volleyed a loose ball across goal and wide from just outside the penalty area.
The young Blues were having a good spell in the game now and on 25 minutes Ben McKenna's cross in from the right found Richardson flicking a 12-yard header wide of the back-stick. Five minutes later and Wood sent a fantastic diagonal ball over the top for Bowman on the left, Bowman then racing into the box only to be denied by a tremendous last ditch tackle by Dailey.
After 32 minutes Matt Osmond conceded possession straight to Rimmer, the Stanley forward though wasting his chance as he fired high and wide left-footed 20 yards out. Osmond then up at the other end two minutes later latching onto a Richardson pass only to be well tackled by Tom Murphy, McKenna's resultant corner in seeing Richards-Everton, under pressure, flicking a header wide from close range.
In the last chance of the first-half five minutes before the break Bowman raced away at pace down the left before checking back and laying a pass off to McKenna. The cross into the box from the United right-winger seeing Law half-volley a right-footed effort too high and into an empty Waterworks End from just inside the box.
After the interval the opening opportunity came the way of the visitors when Murphy hooked a loose ball over the top with his left boot from 15 yards out. Play then going straight up the other end from the restart when Steven Swinglehurst hit a deep ball up, a poor first touch from Bowman though allowing Stanley goalkeeper Josh Molloy to make a block clearance on the edge of his own penalty area.
With 51 minutes gone Bowman cut in from the left and hit a right-footed drive across Molloy but wide of the far-post from 18 yards out, the Carlisle striker then doing exactly the same thing sixty seconds later. McKenna though doing some providing for Bowman moments on with a cross in from the right, this time though the Blues frontman sent a 15-yard right-footed half-volley over the top.
The Cumbrians had started brightly in the second-half and on 55 minutes Osmond's pass down the left resulted in Bowman being brought down over in the far corner by Molloy. Wood's free-kick in seeing the ball come out to Law in the Stanley 'D', Law's right-footed shot from there though was well saved and held by Molloy with Carlisle attackers racing in for any rebound.
Three minutes later and Accrington right-back Luke McVarish hit a 22-yard right-footed shot across goal and wide of the target. United responding just after the hour-mark by taking the lead, McKenna cutting in from the right and playing in Richardson in the box, McGrady seeming to make the fairest tackle going only for referee Tommy Pinder, who was poor for both sides, to award a penalty, Bowman side-footing the spot-kick into the corner past a stationary Molloy.
The Stanley players were understandably raging at that decision and play got spicy for a good while afterwards as the visitors put in some racey tackles, remarkably though the only booking in that spell came for Law for dissent after Rimmer had flattened Wood. Accrington then making their first change in the game on 66 minutes when left-winger Connor Hobson replaced Neild.
Richardson and Osmond then combining four minutes later to set up Bowman, the United striker's attempted 18-yard right-footed lob dropping straight into the arms of Molloy though. Stanley then making another substitution in the 79th minute as Jamie Larner replaced Black. Rimmer then cut in from the left flank but his cross in was wasted two minutes later when impressive substitute Hobson could only slice a volley well wide of the target from just inside the box.
Accrington though did find an equaliser after 82 minutes when a Rimmer corner in saw Ball make his only real mistake of the night when he failed to make a catch as the ball went over his head, McGrady able to head powerfully home from close range. Carlisle making their first change in the game two minutes later when Paddy O'Brien came on in place of Osmond down the left.
In the 87th minute Danny Haworth, unmarked 20 yards out from a McGrady pass could only half-volley right-footed a good chance over the top. Then two minutes later a Rimmer cross in from the right saw Evans, on the turn in the middle, have his left-footed effort blocked away by Cleary. The last thing of note before we hit extra-time being the end of O'Brien's short spell on the pitch as, five minutes into time added on, he was carried off the field with an ankle injury and replaced by Kieran Cahill.
Sixty seconds into extra-time, before which James Reid had come on for Phil Towler, Law sent McKenna away down the right, his cross in glancing off the head of Reid eight yards out with Cahill then unable to control the loose ball. With 93 minutes gone Reid was fouled by Dailey 30 yards out, Bowman sending the free-kick into the box but Cahill was unable to get his header goalwards from the middle of the penalty area.
Stanley nearly took the lead eight minutes later when McVarish played in Evans, Wood though averting the danger as he made a tremendous block on the 15-yard right-footed shot by Evans to deflect it over the top. McKenna then going into the referee's notebook when he was somewhat harshly yellow carded for a foul on the pacey Hobson.
Bowman and Reid then combined in the last minute of the first period of extra-time, with Reid eventually producing a good turn only to shoot right-footed well wide of the target from 22 yards out. The last action in the opening segment of the half an hour coming a minute into stoppage time when McKenna, coming in from the right at pace, was denied by some more excellent Accrington tackling, this time Dailey doing the hard work at the back.
It was McKenna again pressing in the 112th minute when his ball in from the right found Richardson just outside the box, Richardson though hitting a right-footed shot over the top from there. Stanley coming back sixty seconds later with a weak 18-yard right-footed effort across the box from Larner, Ball though slipped in his attempt to save it and ended up very relieved to see the ball trickle away off the base of the far-post.
After 116 minutes Reid set up Richardson for a right-footed shot 22 yards out, once more it was off target though as it flew away wildly over the top. Sixty seconds later, as the Blues pressed for a late winner, Law and Richardson worked together to send Cahill away down the left, Cahill however showing the finishing of a left-back as he lashed a 15-yard drive high into the Warwick Road End.
Moments later and the bookings came out like confetti as Reid, Haworth and McGrady were all yellow carded for what was nothing more than a bout of handbags. Accrington finished strongly against a tired United side and in the 119th minute Rimmer volleyed a loose ball left-footed over the top from 20 yards out, then the final chance was again Stanley's as Haworth dusted himself down after being fouled by Richardson, only to thump the 25-yard free-kick right-footed high, wide and not very handsome.
So after all that it was down to penalties, and you could sense those would go on forever as well, and they just did. I'm not going to go over every penalty in detail bearing in mind there were 22 of them, so here they all are in order :
A, 0-0, Danny Haworth saved
C, 1-0, Ryan Bowman scores
A, 1-1, Jordan Rimmer scores
C, 1-1, James Wood saved
A, 2-1, Jonathan Evans scores
C, 2-2, Sean Law scores
A, 2-2, Brian McGrady saved
C, 3-2, Ben McKenna scores
A, 3-3, Jamie Larner scores
C, 3-3, Kieran Cahill over
A, 4-3, Luke McVarish scores
C, 4-4, James Reid scores
A, 5-4, Antony Field scores
C, 5-5, Jamie Cleary scores
A, 6-5, Tom Murphy scores
C, 6-6, Steven Swinglehurst scores
A, 7-6, Connor Hobson scores
C, 7-7, Manny Richardson scores
A, 8-7, Karl Dailey scores
C, 8-8, Ben Richards-Everton scores
A, 8-8, Josh Molloy saved
C, 9-8, Jon Ball scores
Wow, there you go then, and obviously the big news is the fact that we got round to the goalkeepers in the need to decide the outcome of the game. Ball the Carlisle hero as he made a good stop from his counterpart Molloy before scoring himself to send the young Blues through to a hard earned trip to York City in round two of the FA Youth Cup.
United line-up :
Jon Ball, James Wood, Steven Swinglehurst, Jamie Cleary, Ben Richards-Everton, Sean Law, Phil Towler (James Reid 91), Ben McKenna, Ryan Bowman, Manny Richardson, Matt Osmond (Paddy O'Brien 84 (Kieran Cahill 94)).
Unused substitutes :
Mark Gillespie (GK) and James Bonner.
Accrington line-up :
Josh Molloy, Luke McVarish, Brian McGrady, Karl Dailey, Tom Murphy, Anthony Field, Jordan Neild (Connor Hobson 66), Danny Haworth, Jonathan Evans, Jordan Rimmer, Adam Black (Jamie Larner 79).
Unused substitutes :
Matthew Ince (GK), Jack Sargent and Joseph Wilkinson.
Referee - Tommy Pinder (Lancaster).
Youth Team Results : Click here
Youth Team Squad : Click here
Youth Team Table : Click here