Bootle's Head of Club and Community Develpoment Ian Porter reports on the Bucks' exit from the FA Vase
For the second year in succession, Bootle's interest in the FA Vase competition was ended by a side from the Skilltraining Premier League.
And, similar to last season, they would finish their 4th Round game with 10 men, lose by two clear goals and leave the field knowing that it could have been a quite different story.
Following a 5 week enforced absence from competitive football due to adverse weather conditions, Bootle's took to the field at Station Road against a Norton & Stockton Ancients side who, like the Bucks, had also achieved promotion to their Premier League last season.
The home groundsmen had worked long and hard on the pitch after Norton's mid-week game against Spennymoor to ensure the game was playable but, despite this, the playing surface was predictably soft underfoot.
The Ancients came out of the blocks quickly and dominated the first 5 minutes of the game during which they fashioned 3 chances on the Bootle goal. One in particular saw Storr shoot narrowly over the Bootle bar, and another forced Mawdsley to move sharply to thwart a blistering effort on goal from Dunwell.
However, once the Bucks had shaken off the ring-rust resulting from a lengthy period of inactivity over the previous month, a terrific interchange between Tyson, McQueen and the lively Hickey resulted in a beautifully weighted through ball to Fowler who was adjudged offside; but that move was indicative of things to come.
Even at this point in the game, the playing surface was deteriorating rapidly and as Kilroy moved to intercept a Norton pass, he completely lost his footing which left Wells with the space to run at the Bootle goal only to shoot over when he might have taken the ball a little further into the Bucks' penalty area.
Then, after 11 minutes, O'Connor and Black combined to send Fowler through on goal and the Bucks' predator finished with typical aplomb to give the away side the lead. After a confident start, the home side were visibly rocked by the goal and the following 20 minutes saw Bootle establish a firm hold on the game and resulted in their best passage of play.
With Tyson dominating the midfield area and Fowler constantly playing on the shoulder of the Norton defensive line, Bootle began to impose themselves on the contest and went in search of a second goal. A great run and cross by Hickey narrowly evaded the incoming O'Connor and Black before being hurriedly cleared for a corner by Cossavella in the Norton defence.
The Ancients kept trying to make good use of the width provided by the talents of top-scorer Andrews and left-winger Wells but McQueen was getting the better of the former in what was a fascinating duel.
After Mawdsley had safely gathered another Norton effort, the Bucks broke upfield and Black fired narrowly wide. Shortly afterwards, a terrific delivery by Kilroy from a free-kick just outside the Norton penalty area, resulted in a goalmouth scramble before O'Connor flicked the ball onto the Norton crossbar.
At the other end, Dunwell did eventually put the ball into the Bootle net but was pulled up for a clear foul on McQueen. Both teams were to be applauded for the quality of their football on what was now a treacherous playing surface.
On the half-hour, Fowler was upended 25 yards from goal. The striker got up to take the resulting free-kick and struck a fierce shot around the Norton wall which was hurtling towards the corner of the net before Briggs produced another magnificent save by diving full-length to his right and diverting the ball for a corner.
With 10 minutes of the half remaining the Norton full-back Alderson, who had been struggling to cope with the skills of Hickey on the Bootle left, produced an awful tackle on him from behind that left the Buck's player in considerable distress and requiring treatment. The first yellow card of the game was duly produced but the Ancient's defender can consider himself lucky to be still on the field.
The second booking followed swiftly when O'Connor was adjudged to have fouled a Norton defender.
Further chances for Bootle to extend their lead fell to O'Connor, Hay, Coulton and Fowler but a mixture of poor finishing and the presence of Briggs in the Norton goal, denied the Buck's a second goal.
As half-time approached, Bootle seemed comfortable and certainly worthy of their lead. However, with 5 minutes of the half remaining, Norton launched a free-kick into a crowded Buck's penalty area and after a short period of head-tennis during and a ball that was only half-cleared by the Bootle defence, a chance fell to Wharton who headed in for the equalising goal.
With their tails up again, the final attack of the half saw Norton play a fine through ball inside Coulton and a firmly struck shot by Dunwell produced a good save from Mawdsley. As the whistle blew for half-time, the contrasting emotions in the departing sides were clearly evident.
A lively start to the 2nd half saw Fowler once again forcing the Norton Keeper into a good save and Carberry in the Bootle defence making a tremendous last-ditch tackle to thwart a very promising attack by the Ancients. However, the most telling moments of the game came within 10 minutes of the restart.
At the Norton end, Fowler burst through superbly and produced a magnificent shot that had a goal written all over it before Briggs dived full-length to produce his best save of the game. From the resulting clearance, a foul on Andrews by McQueen resulted in a free-kick which eventually fell to Mulligan inside the Buck's area and he volleyed confidently into the Bootle goal to give his side the lead after 55 minutes of play.
Shortly afterwards, a tremendous Norton effort from 20 yards produced a superb fingertip save from Mawdsley who managed to divert the ball against his own crossbar and out of play for a corner.
Within minutes, the next crucial decision of the game came from another Norton corner kick. As the ball was crossed into the Buck's area, Mawdsley was clearly impeded by two Norton players resulting in a free shot on goal by one of the Ancients' players. The goal-bound effort was handled on the line by Hickey and he was subsequently dismissed.
Despite the understandable protestations of the Bucks' players, the penalty kick was confidently dispatched by Andrews to give Norton a two-goal advantage.
Within minutes, the scoreline would deteriorate even further from a Bootle perspective. Following Norton's third goal, Buck's defender Carberry, who'd had a cracking game, was withdrawn in favour of the attacking flair of Obasi who, trying to play his way into the game, lost the ball which eventually made its way to the impressive Wells on the Norton left. His terrific cross was headed in at the far post by Dunwell.
Within the space of 12 minutes, Bootle had conceded 3 goals and been reduced to 10 men. Lesser teams may have folded but that's not the Bootle way and with Black constantly foraging on the right, Obasi showing his class on the ball, despite some heavy treatment form the Norton defenders, and Fowler always threatening something special, the Bucks continued to move forward.
With 10 minutes remaining, a rasping shot from the edge of the Norton area by the impressive Obasi, forced Briggs into action once more. However, Coulton, who had been magnificent in the Bucks' central defence, pounced on the loose ball to reduce the deficit.
Predictably, as 10-man Bootle pushed forward in search of a third goal, the Norton forwards found a little more freedom but in fairness, neither side produced any gilt-edged chances and, with both teams tiring, an enthralling game came to an end with Norton taking the spoils and a place in the 5th round of the competition for the first time in their history.
The crowd applauded both teams off the pitch and were understandably impressed with the quality of football served up by both sides, in conditions that were certainly not conducive to the flowing football we had witnessed for the majority of the game.
On a day that began with the discovery of break-in and substantial damage to the Bootle Clubhouse, it would be wrong to suggest that the Buck's were 'robbed' for the 2nd time in the day. The Norton team deserved their place in the next round having performed very well and taken their chances before playing out the game intelligently against the 10 men of Bootle.
As for the Bucks, the 'dream' is over for another year but the Club still have a great deal to play for over the remaining months of the season.
Before we left, we wished the Ancients well in the next round but obviously send our very best wishes to Tony Hancock and the Millers who are now the sole-surviving representatives from the Vodkat League in the FA Vase competition.......and then there was one.
