Glossop North End supporters who made the trip down to and from Malvern in Worcestershire will have woken up on Sunday with sore necks, because they’ll have spent the entire journey home shaking their heads wondering just how their team not only lost this FA Cup tie, but how they made it look like they took a spanking.

There were no clues in the first half of what was to unfold.  It was clear very early that, despite playing at a level higher than the Hillmen, Malvern were eminently beatable, as the 4 consecutive defeats that opened their season suggested.  All the half chances were Glossop’s – Hodges had a couple of headers that he could only loop rather than power, whilst the keeper only just pushed away a cross that was destined for Evans’s head 6 yards out and was again just in time to deny Jones as he strode into the area to finish. 

It was Jones who went closest right on the break when a free kick fell to him 25 yards out.  The young full back controlled and unleashed a fierce drive that cannoned against the crossbar and bounced away.  As the whistle blew, you fancied North End to take the game in the 2^nd period.

And for 15 minutes, they did.  They dominated midfield and therefore possession, but could not make the advantage pay.  Hodges and Stewart teed up Morris 12 yards out, but he hit the advancing keeper.  Young and Hamilton fell over each other when gifted a free header, and the ball went wide.  But most profligate was Rick Bailey, who was beautifully set up by Hamilton, unmarked 10 yards from goal with only the keeper to beat, but he could only direct the shin high ball wide.

Malvern were rattled, but North End failed to make them pay, and suddenly a goal came from nowhere on the hour mark.  A ball was spread wide left to Hyde, who cut inside too easily and laid the ball to Lyons on the edge of the box.  Lyons calmly controlled and shot past Fielding into the corner with practically their first shot on goal of the game.

11 minutes later, they repeated the trick when again the ball was wide left and Hyde put in a teasing deep cross for Craven, who despite a mop of shocking blonde hair had hitherto played completely unnoticed, rose to loop a header over Fielding.

Glossop were stunned, and whilst they huffed and puffed to try and get a goal back their final ball was not good enough and they didn’t create another opportunity.  In fact, it was Malvern who put the tin hat on a terribly disappointing day in the 3^rd minute of injury time when Young was robbed in midfield and Gardener broke free into the Glossop box, and smashed a beauty into the top corner.

On Saturday Glossop have a chance of redemption as they take on another Worcestershire side, Pershore Town in the opening round of the FA Vase.  They had been due to play in Pershore, but because of the summer floods, their ground in unfit.  Therefore, Pershore have asked their neighbours to host the game…Malvern Town!  Anyone ever had that feeling of déjà vu?

Pershore Town 1, Glossop NE 2

After the disappointment of last week’s FA Cup defeat at Malvern Town, the FA Vase draw pitted the Hillmen against the Worcestershire club’s neighbours a week later; but flooding during the summer meant that the game was again at the Malvern Town ground.  Thankfully, this time the journey was a fruitful one, although Glossop left it late to secure a home tie with Racing Club Warwick on 22 September.  However, they deserved it.

There were wholesale changes from a week earlier, with Alex Radford, Lugsden, Yates and Moore all starting, and it was a baptism of fire as inevitably the home side came out and attacked for an early goal, especially as they would have had ample chance to see Glossop’s frailties a week earlier.

On 12 minutes they ought to have taken the lead when Hooper & Roberts were both offside to a long punt, but adjudged as coming back, allowing Beattie to run onto the ball and straight at Fielding.  The goalkeeper hesitated, came out and went back unsure of his position, but in the end Beattie had too much time to think and screwed his shot wide.  A real escape.

When Glossop danger came it was from the left hand side and Darren Hamilton, who twice beat his full back to life crosses into the box that caused panic.  And it was the left side again that provided the ball when they took the lead on the half hour. 

Lee Evans picked up the ball and swung a cross in that eluded all, except James Moore, making his first start for the club, at the far post.  He had ghosted in unmarked at the far post and lashed a confident shot past the keeper.

The difference the goal was incredible, as suddenly a side unsure of itself and likely to damage their own feet with shooting became choc full of confidence, playing some terrific football on the floor, passing with panache.  Hamilton twice could have scored; once with a snapshot fashioned out of nothing that the keeper palmed away acrobatically, and once with a header from a glorious cross that ought to have hit the target but went wide.

As this is cup football, and whilst the visitor’s work rate dropped a little, Pershore were ready to throw the kitchen sink at North End, but Glossop will be disappointed that the goal came so easily with 15 minutes to go.  The defence was sleeping, still arranging their formation, when a free kick was curled onto the six yard line.  David Cannon will never have an easier header to score for the rest of his career.

This woke Glossop up again and Vidal Spaine so nearly took the lead again when he burst from halfway past two defenders and into the box.  Eventually a last ditch challenge forced him to shoot wide, but the run lifted the side, even if Spaine should have lifted his head and spotted Dave Hodges completely free to his left.

Buoyed, they continued to press to avoid extra time, and in the 90^th minute Lugsden made a lung busting run from left back into the Pershore half and slipped a pass behind the full back to Hodges.  He drilled in a low cross to the near post and found Spaine in exactly the right place at the right time to turn home at the near post.  The relief was obvious as the supporters, although small in number, gave the loudest cheer of the day.

Glossop NE 3, Flixton 1

Flixton have become something of a bogey team for the Hillmen since returning to the top flight of the Vodkat league, but finally Glossop got some revenge with a well deserved victory on Tuesday night.  It hurt the visitors too, as evidenced by their classless decision to swerve the traditional post match hospitality.

There had been precious little in chances in the opening period until the first goal came out of nothing on 23 minutes.  Dave Young played a great ball behind the full back for Dave Hodges to gallop onto and into the box.  He seemed to have over hit it when he fell under a challenge from Monteith, and it didn’t look a clear cut penalty, but the referee gave it.  Lee Evans had retained spot kick duty from last season, and netted by hitting it straight down the middle.

6 minutes later he was offered the chance to do it again when Young took a free kick from outside the box on the right.  A defender in the wall jumped with his hands above his head, and whilst the ball hitting his hand may not have been a deliberate act, his hands should not have been there and the penalty award was more clear cut than the first.  Evans hit it high into the roof of the net this time.

Confident Glossop might have netted another when Gorton headed over from an Evans flick on at the near post, but before half time were given a warning when Vernon put a free header wide just before the break.

Glossop put the game beyond doubt 4 minutes into the second half when a low cross from the right was turned in at the far post by Hodges.  He got the faintest of touches to it – possibly off his studs rather than his boot – but it didn’t matter as the ball nestled in the corner.

There might have been more goals as Bailey failed to turn another drilled cross in at the far post, Lunt shot wide and Young hit the bar with a tremendous free kick, but in the end it was Flixton who got the final goal – a consolation from Colulo with 5 minutes left.

Glossop boss Steve Young will be pleased overall with this performance.  For the most part they played the better football, knocking it around with aplomb at times with Flixton chasing shadows.  This brought to an end a run of 4 defeats that bare statistics make look worse than they might be – 3 of the defeats were away to the top 3 in the league.  The league season starts in earnest with this win, and they will be full of confidence going to Nelson on Saturday.

Nelson 1, Glossop North End 1

Steve Young’s youthful team got a lesson in how good they can be when they beat Flixton on Tuesday, but it was back to school again on Saturday when they found out that they must keep up their levels against the so-called lesser teams, because they are capable of taking you by surprise. 

Saturday’s game wasn’t a defeat, but it felt like one as the game should have been wrapped up by half time.  However, a limp second half effort allowed the visitors a deserved draw, and they might even have snatched a win with the momentum they established.

Glossop seemed to avoid the simple aspects of the game too often to attempt a clever flick or a ‘Hollywood pass’ that might open up the defence in the final third.  However, these come off rarely, and a simpler game would be to play the percentages, delivering the early ball into the box giving the strikers a chance to net.  When things did go right, the first touch would let the player down, Hodges and Hamilton both guilty of giving the keeper his chance when through on goal after a heavy 1^st contact.

However, it was Hamilton who opened the scoring with a lovely finish. Chasing behind the defence, he let the ball do the work for him as the angled pass ran through to the edge of the area.  The striker’s first touch was to steer a shot past the advancing keeper for a 25^th minute lead.

From there the Hillmen dominated the half, but could not make the possession tell.  Only Bailey went close with a dipping shot from outside the area, although Evans set himself up with a lovely piece of skill – chipping the ball over a defender Gazza style only for the attempted volley to go awry.

The second half could not have been more different.  Steve Young may well be testing the half time drinks for sedatives, because it was a totally lethargic team that came out of the dressing room and, crucially, this allowed Nelson to get their tails up.

There were a couple of early warnings when Mugan twice went close after Glossop had gifted them possession.  They weren’t heeded though, as on the hour Payne thrashed a wicked right foot shot from an angle past Fielding, after latching onto a high ball from the defence.

Yates nearly gifted another to Mugan, trying to be too clever at the back, but retrieved his moment of madness, with a moment of real quality with a magnificently timed sliding challenge when a goal seemed certain.

North End had half chances only, Bailey hitting the base of the post from a very tight angle whilst Evans nearly pounced on a short back-pass, sliding in to tackle the goalkeeper initially but then just losing the race to the ball.

But it was Nelson who continued to have the upper hand; Radford was forced to clear off the line, Mugan shot wide from a corner and Hargreaves just couldn’t turn and shoot when the ball found him 6 yards out, but facing the wrong way.  The best chance cam e in injury time though when a long ball cleared Radford’s head and left Payne one on one with Fielding.  He should have scored, but shot straight at the keeper, meaning the lesson wasn’t as painful as it might have been. 

Manager Steve Young, not usually short of a few words, was speechless after this game, and it’s no surprise.  His side had played Squires Gate off the park for the majority of this match, only to find that their profligacy in front of goal cost them dearly.  In the final analysis, goals win games, and The Hillmen only had Lee Evans’s late consolation in their ‘for’ column.

Glossop bossed the first half so much, the home side made two substitutions at half time.  Only poor finishing or decision making at crucial times cost them.  Twin flank players, Hamilton and Hodges were causing mayhem on the wings whilst Lunt and Evans won ball and opened dangerous positions up front, but the ball would not go in the net.

Evans had a dipping shot go just over, Lugsden ought to have drilled a cross from a dangerous spot, but looped a ball for the keeper to intercept and timely tackles and blocks denied Evans and Bailey, but Glossop’s biggest nemesis was keeper Ryan Yeomans.

He made two top class saves.  The first on 15 minutes so Lunt meet Hamilton perfectly paced cross with a well placed header and Glossop arms were ready to raise in celebration until Yeomans somehow stuck out a strong hand and turned the ball wide.  Then, just before the break he repeated the trick, this time pushing a low drilled near post shot from Hodges wide, despite falling backwards having nearly bought the winger’s feign that suggested a cross was coming.

After the break we looked as though we were in for more of the same when Lugsden fashioned an opportunity for Lunt to run at goal.  He should have scored, but he put his shot from the angle wide.

Then, it suddenly went wrong.  Lee Catlow, a prolific Vodkat League scorer with Fleetwood a few years ago, but the shadow of his former self and ineffectual in the first half, suddenly rose to meet a speculative cross, and jumping higher than Steffan Fielding looped the ball over the goalie to score. 

Then, just 4 minutes later, another high ball into the box, from a Gate free kick despite a tackle that would end Lugsden’s participation, fell to Fielding.  With Catlow in attendance, he seemed to push the ball away.  Catlow fell too, and the referee could not wait to point to the spot.  A dodgy pen, but Catlow gratefully accepted the gift.

Shell-shocked, Glossop tried to pick themselves up and dust themselves off, but Lunt again missed from an Evans cross.  To be fair to Lunt, his work outside the box was exemplary while his was on the pitch, but he knows as a striker he needs to score, and as such is desperate for a goal.

With Glossop pressing, Gate had chances, Paynter going particularly close with a great volley, but Glossop finally got one back with 9 minutes left when Evans drilled in Alex Radford’s low cross.  But they could not create a chance of note after that, and this ground is fast becoming one of the bogey variety – this is the 4^th consecutive season I’ve travelled here to see them lose.  Indeed, Evans’s late strike was the only Glossop goal in that time. 

On Saturday Glossop travel back to the Midlands for a FA Vase 1^st round tie, away to Coventry Sphinx.  Should a replay be required, it will be on Tuesday at Surrey Street.