Sadly Scarborough Athletic are out of the FA Vase losing by just 1 goal to Bideford in North Devon.
I was unable to travel to the game, but by all accounts we should have won the game comfortably had we taken our chances.
But credit to Bideford, I would like them to go on to win the trophy.
This is the report on the game from the Bideford website.
Bideford Goo Through To 5th Round .
A single goal from Nick Barker in the first half sees Bideford AFC overcome Scarborough Athletic at the Sports Ground।
The Fa Vase is the competition that Bideford have continued to push for over the past 7 or 8 years. In previous season they have reached the semi-finals, and this year they are looking to go all the way to Wembley. A strong loud contingency of Scarborough fans travelled to Bideford today, making a 700 mile round trip to watch them in thier first year in the FA Vase competition.
A minutes silence was held before the match, in respect for ex-club director, and devoted fan Keith Prouse who passed away over the Christmas period, his ashes were also scattered on the pitch after the match had finished.
Bideford started with Ben Wood and Shane Tolley starting up front, with Ellis Laight just in behind them, and at the kickoff both teams were keen to make an early impact to the score sheet. Tolley coming closest in the first few minutes when his close range effort went wide of the left post.
Once the game had settled down, both teams dug in and defended well, but the majority of the play was coming from a Bideford squad pushing deep into Scarborough`s half. Long range efforts from Rob Francis attempted to test the Scarborough keeper, Arran Reid, but couldn’t find the target. Scott Phillips had a similar long range effort at the other end, but put it way wide.
Scarborough were giving as good as they got as the half progressed with numerous opportunities slipping past the Bideford defenders, great keeping from Draper in the Bideford goal denying 1 v 1 chances.
Shane Tolley of Bideford had the best effort for Bideford after 35 minutes, his overhead kick beating the keeper, but just drifting wide of the left post. And he continued to threaten the Scarborough goal a few minutes later after a scramble saw the ball bounce just wide from a very narrow angle.
On the stroke of half time, a long throw from Ben Wood found its way to Nick Barker, who controlled and turned, blasting the ball past Arran Reid in goal to put Bideford in front.
1-0 up and Bideford must keep their heads, Scarborough look threatening, especially their balls down the centre of the pitch that have continually caught Bideford napping. The strong wind is picking up also which is working against Bideford now.
The second half kicked off and Scarborough looked the better of the two, often pinning Bideford back into their penalty area, but Bideford continued to defend well. Craig Hogg for Scarborough had a series of chances to equalise early on, he met the side netting, went just wide and forced Draper into pushing the ball over in the space of 3 minutes in a dangerous period for Bideford. And Rob Ellis’s header also nearly opened the scoring, but he failed to get a full head on the ball as it glanced away.
Fustration started to set in for Scarborough at their own failure to equalise, as a couple of players saw yellow. 5 minutes from time there was big controversy as a long throw from Scarborough substitute Gary Hepples caught the wind and flew over Draper to bounce into the back of the net. The lineman was quick to raise his flag for offside, but had the ball actually touched anyone? FA rules say that you can`t be offside from a throw-in, so a double confusion for the ruling.
A gripping last 5 minutes and 4 minutes of signalled stoppage time followed with numerous corners pushing Bideford back and they looked at any moment like they were going to score, but Bideford held out to go through to the fifth round. The fifth round draw takes place Monday lunchtime and will be published on this website soon after. Many thanks to the Scarborough supporters who made this game truely rememberable for the Robins and their supporters.
Attendance: 570.
Scarborough Athletic return to league action on Tuesday evening just across the Humber Bridge at Barton Town.
SCARBOROUGH FOOTBALL CLUB WERE FORCED INTO LIQUIDATION AT THE END OF THE 2006-07 SEASON. A NEW TRUST RUN CLUB HAS NOW BEEN FORMED "SCARBOROUGH ATHLETIC" AND THIS BLOG WILL FOLLOW THEIR FORTUNES, BOTH ON AND OFF THE FOOTBALL FIELD. UP THE BORO !!!
THIS BLOG WAS CREATED FROM THE VERY BEGINNINGS OF SCARBOROUGH ATHLETIC'S FORMATION
Scarborough Athletic F.C were formed on June 25th 2007 following the winding up order imposed on the old club after the local council turned down the club's survival plans. The club were finally forced into liquidation with debts of £2.5 million by a High Court judge, and so ended the club's magnificent 128 year history, no thoughts or consideration was to be spared for anyone connected with the club or the towns footballing public. However a trust had been formed and we were prepared for such a situation should it arise. The Seadog Trust applied to the Northern Counties East League to enter newly formed Scarborough Athletic and they were succesful in their application.
The new club are a continuation of the old one, they have the same kit, badge, motto etc and most importantly have kept a large number of the old supporters. This blog was started by me from the very beginnings of Scarborough Athletic FC and will follow the fortunes, both good and bad of the newly formed club as they try to get back to the higher levels of the football pyramid where they rightly belong. A rival team has also been formed 'Scarborough Town', I do not expect that particular club will have much of a future, but do they realise the damage that they are causing to the future success of football in the town, our town cannot support 2 teams, Athetic are here to stay, we are the town's number one football team and will return to the higher levels of the game in the next few seasons..
THIS BLOG WAS ESTABLISHED FROM THE BEGINNINGS OF SCARBOROUGH ATHLETIC AND WILL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW THE CLUB ON THEIR JOURNEY BACK TO THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE. I AM NOT HERE TO ADVERTISE OR MAKE MONEY FROM 3RD PARTY LISTINGS, I AM HERE TO SIMPLY FOLLOW THE CLUB AND TRY TO KEEP THIS BLOG AS INTERESTING AS POSSIBLE. COMMENTS ARE WELCOME.
