Goals dry up in Cup as Blyth Spartans are held

Posted by The Journal on Oct 26, 09 09:42 AM in Sport

Blyth Spartans 0, AFC Telford 0

Seven goals in the last round but one, and six last week, Blyth Spartans went to the other extreme against AFC Telford. Now they go to Shropshire.

The Croft Park club were held to a goalless draw by their Blue Square North rivals in Saturday's FA Cup fourth qualifying round. They replay at New Bucks Head tomorrow night.

The Spartans enjoyed the better of the going, with Paul Brayson and Chris McCabe denied by Telford keeper Ryan Young in the opening exchanges.

Yet Mick Tait's side's momentum was derailed somewhat when the visitors were reduced to 10 men, Gavin Hurran sent off for pushing Robbie Dale in the face.

That might have opened the floodgates but Telford dug in deep, settling for a draw. Though Michael Tait, Kenny Boyle and Gareth Williams went close these were half-chances at best. When Blyth - with 642 looking on - went closer still, Brayson could only steer a header into the side-netting.

It means their league game at Stalybridge Celtic tomorrow is postponed, a trip to Telford in its place. But Tait remains optimistic about Blyth's FA Cup hopes.

"We weren't at our most fluid but we did enough to win the game and we should have done," said Tait.

"We were the best side, 11 men against 11. I heard some of their players as they were coming off at half-time. They were glad to be going off with the score 0-0.

"They were muttering that we'd battered them. I wouldn't have put it as strongly as that, because we weren't really at our best, but we created a lot of chances.

"The trouble was that they were only half-chances.

"We usually create a lot more clear-cut chances but these weren't. We needed a bit of luck for them to go in, and we didn't get it.

"We can go down there and there's no reason why we can't win."

Meanwhile, Blyth Town drew 0-0 with Cramlington Town in the Northern Alliance Premier Division.

BLYTH SPARTANS: Bell, Harrison, Brackstone, Tait, Williams, Craddock, McCabe, Doninger, Brayson, Graham, Dale. Subs (not used): Todd, Turnbull, Boyle, Alexander, Gillies, Webster, Norton.

AFC TELFORD: Young, Vaughan, Newton, Cowan, Killock, Hurren, Nurse, Rodgers, Carey-Bertram, Thompson, Trainer. Subs (not used): Adams, Torpey, Field, Brown, Blakeman, Edwards, Whitehead.

Ref: S Ledger (England). Att: 642.

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