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FA Carlsberg Trophy First Qualifying Round Replay
21 October 2008
Rich pickings for City at Grove as Yeltz make Speedy exit from Trophy
by Kevin Hewitt
Halesowen Town 0
Durham City 1 Richardson 62
Durham made amends for Saturday’s slip-up with a highly professional performance in Tuesday night’s F A Trophy First Qualifying Round replay against Halesowen Town at the Grove which saw them overcome their British Gas Business Southern Premier League opponents with a 62nd minute goal from last season’s leading marksman Steven Richardson.
Both sides shuffled their packs from the original tie, City were without the in-form Gavin Cogdon, Adam Johnston and John Toft due to work commitments while Yeltz Manager Morell Maison looked to tighten-up a defence that had conceded ten goals in their last three league and cup fixtures.
It was never likely to be the open free-flowing game that saw the sides share eight goals at the Arnott Stadium in Saturday’s original tie as both sides looked to be more circumspect in their approach and so it proved.
City had the opportunity to take an early lead when a good move between debutant David Dukes and Stephen Capper saw the full-back put in a telling low-cross which Tommy English narrowly failed to convert at the far post.
Yeltz, on their home ground, were seeing much more of the ball than on Saturday and Jay Denny’s cross was headed wide by Aaron Cornwall at the back-post before Chris Nurse deflected effort was easily taken by Craig Turns.
A Jack Allward 25-yard effort drifted wide and Jermaine Palmer got on the end of Cornwall’s cross but his header lacked power before a floodlight failure 25 minutes into the first-half meant both sides were confined to the dressing room for the next quarter of an hour.
Denny had a shot deflected wide on the resumption before City nearly went ahead in the 32nd minute when English’s well-struck was turned around the post by Nick Bussey at full-stretch.
Yeltz’s Alex Cowley and City’s Richardson both tried their luck without causing the respective keepers too many problems then just before the break Saturday’s danger man Mark Danks cut in from the right but his well-hit left footer flew straight at Turns to leave the sides level at the break.
Good work from Capper down the left saw Richardson fire over the top before the full-back again found space to put in a low-cross which avoided the onrushing forwards. Cowley then cut in from his right wing position to fire in a left-footer which flew high and wide.
It was City that finally broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute when a defence-splitting pass from English put Richardson through and the striker calmly slotted the ball past the advancing Bussey.
Danks’ movement continued to be Halesowen’s biggest threat but when the diminutive front-man did find the space, midway through the second-half, he fired a left-foot shot wide before fellow striker Jermaine Palmer did the same moments later.
As the game moved into its final stages, Calvin Smith found space down the right to cut the ball back to Nathan Fisher whose shot was comfortably saved by Bussey.
With what was virtually the last throw of the dice Town could have equalised a
minute from time when the ball broke to Cornwall on the edge of the box but the winger badly scuffed his shot and the danger was averted.
Six minutes of injury-time followed but the only threat again came from Cornwall whose left foot effort from 20 yards was comfortably held by Turns down to his left.
Consequently, City move through to the next round where they travel to UniBond Premier Division side Marine a week on Saturday but before that City face Blue Square Conference side Histon at Eppleton C.W. ground in an F.A. Cup Fourth Qualifying Round tie.
Halesowen Town – Bussey, Smith (Caskey 79), Allward, Kemp, Briscoe, Denny (Rowe56), Cowley, Nurse, Palmer (Abbey 72),Danks, Cornwall
Subs not used: Bryant, Sanna.
Durham City – Turns, Harrison, Capper, Dodds, Dixon, Laws, Calvin Smith , Bell, Richardson(Fisher 76), Duke (Morris 65), English (Richard Smith 90)
Subs not used – Jake Richardson
Man of the match – Michael Laws (got to grips with awkwardness of Palmer to turn in a commanding performance at heart of City defence)
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