Congleton Town 1 – Bury AFC 1
Congleton win 5-4 on pens
On a cold and wet afternoon at the Cleric Stadium Congleton Town beat Bury AFC 5-4 on penalties to claim their first ever place in the semi finals of the Isuzu FA Vase writes Ian Corbishley.
In front of a full house of 1,120 the Bears took to the field with Tom Pope restored to the side after being rested in midweek.
It was Bury had the better of the early exchanges with Congleton being pressed back. Sajjad Elhassan looked dangerous on the right wing and the experienced Wharton shot wide in just the second minute.
It was a surprise therefore when Congleton took the lead on eleven minutes. Dan Needham picked up the ball wide on the right before cutting in onto his left foot. Seeing a hole in the Bury defence he reached the edge of the penalty area before curling a low shot out of the reach of Jim Atkinson and into the corner of the Bury net. The Bears faithful exploded in delight and for the first time in the afternoon out- sung the visiting fans from Bury.
The celebrations were short lived however as Dave Parton was soon in action, tipping over a dipping shot from Jack Tinning. From the resultant corner the Congleton defence were unable to clear and the visiting skipper, Johnaton Hunt, fired home to bring the visitors level on fifteen minutes.
For the rest of the half chances were few and far between with the worsening weather and heavy pitch making good football difficult. The closest that Congleton came to a further goal was snap shot from Jones – Griffiths which was tipped away by Atkinson. Bury were having more of the ball and the territorial advantage but without forcing Parton into serious action.
The second half began in much the same way with Bury dominating the midfield exchanges but unable to create any clear cut opportunities and Congleton reduced to hitting long balls up to Pope in the hope that he could hold the ball up to bring more forward players into the game for Congleton.
On fifty -nine minutes it was Elhassan again that escaped the Congleton defence, but Parton was out quickly to dive at his feet and deflect the ball for a corner. Elhassan was certainly looking the most dangerous Bury player but he was wasting the opportunities that he was able to create.
The substitution of Jones – Griffiths for Beaumont on the hour gave Congleton a more physical presence up front and the addition of George Sankey for Aaron Johns gave Bury a further problem to deal with. Congleton were now coming more into the game against a tiring Bury team who had made no substitutions but it was again Elhassan who flashed a shot wide for Bury with Parton seemingly beaten.
On seventy eight minutes Sankey was put through on the Bury goal and to some of the crowd appeared to have scored but in fact Atkinson had tipped the ball round the post, although the referee inexplicably gave a goal kick.
With Hampton on for Needham the Bears now had a three pronged target to aim for and it was Beaumont who crept around the bank of the Bury defence, only to see Atkinson claw his header across the penalty area away from the onrushing Congleton players.
With three minutes of injury time signalled before penalties would decide the game it seemed that Bury had to win it as Parton was beaten by a shot that fell for Williams inside the six yard box and the goal gaping. Somehow Faulkner managed to get back and block his shot with a goal seeming to be inevitable.
Congleton then won a free kick wide on the right but before they could put the ball into the penalty area the referee blew for full time and the drama of penalties.
Bury won the toss and elected to take the penalties at the end where their fans had gathered.
The first three penalties from both sides were converted with Parton almost saving the third but when Brazel stepped up to take Bury’s fourth it was weakly struck and Parton made a straightforward save down to his right. The next two penalties were scored meaning that it was down to Lewis Short to win it for Congleton. He coolly stroked the ball into the back of the net for a famous Congleton victory.
Congleton are now through to their third semi-final of the season and are just one game away from a trip to Wembley Stadium.
Congleton Town: Parton, Faulkner, Nsaka, Williams, Duffy, Johns, Hartshorn, Pope, Jones – Griffith, Needham.
Subs: Beaumont, Sankey, Read, Hampton, Fregapane, Griffiths, Buckley
Bury AFC: Atkinson, Williams, Tinning, Rowney, Hunt, Denman, Gilboy, Holt, Wharton, Elhassan.
Subs: Smith, Hewitt Hill, McWilliam, Kenny, Unwin, Hellawell.
