Gannin Alang the Scotswood Road
The FA cup holds a special place in hearts of every football fan up and down the country. From the bright lights of the premier league stadiums all the way down to the very bottom of the English football pyramid. The magic of the cup is holds true for just about anyone who loves 3 o’clock on a Saturday afternoon because that means it’s time for football.
I had the pleasure of being invited to watch Newcastle Bluestar host Hallam FC in a preliminary round of the FA cup. Walking down the hill with the sun shining, the music blasting and for many the drinks flowing. The atmosphere was optimistic as the players entered the pitch for their pre match warm up. Could this be a cup run that will be talked about for years to come?
That optimism made way for confidence after 12 minutes as Bluestar opened the scoring thanks to a sublime strike from outside the box by the Bluestar captain Connor Oliver.
This gave the hosts a head of steam meaning they kept pushing their opponents back and it wasn’t long before defender Sean Reid made it 2-0. The big central defender rose above the crowd to head home from a whipped in corner leading to scenes of jubilation around Scotswood.
The half ended with yellow cards but no more goals as the players exited the pitch. The party atmosphere took precedent at half time with some in disbelief asking, “where has this team been?”
Not long after the second half kicked off you would be forgiven for thinking that Newcastle had stayed in the dressing room because what was to come in the following 45 minutes would leave spectators with a sense of disbelief.
At 51 mins the visitors were given a penalty following a clumsy challenge which resulted in a booking for full back Gabrielle Bada.
Keeper Dan Lister managed to save the spot kick but moments after the ball was in the back of the net from the corner that followed. (2-1)
This gave Hallam a bit of momentum which they used to push them forwards and after a short period of sustained pressure they were able to break through again bundling the ball over the line and levelling up the game at 53 minutes. (2-2)
From then on the tie looked like it was going to a replay with chances going to either side but nothing looked like really threatening either keeper.
That was until the 82nd min when Hallam scored what would be the winner sending the second oldest football team in the world through to the next round of the FA cup.
The question now is how does Marc Nash pick his players up ahead of a trip to Seaham Red star?
Overall the day was full of excitement and enjoyment and had the game been only 45mins long it would have been a perfect day watching football in the sun but like the old saying goes it’s a game of two halves. And I can’t wait to do it all over again!
Wrriten by Matthew Thomas
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