REPORT BY WINNERS LAD

A relieved Leek Town side eventually progressed to the next round of the FA Trophy after an enthralling yet topsy turvy cup tie at Coleshill Town.

The Blues looked to be crashing out of the competition as the game ticked into its 96thmin after going 4-3 behind in the 89thmin until super sub Tom Carr equalised to take the tie to penalties which Leek won 4-2 with Sam Booth the hero saving 2 of Coleshill spot kicks.

Manager Neil Baker made two changes to his starting line up. Striker Tim Grice came back into the forward line at the expense of Tom Carr whilst Jesse Bavanganga replaced Scot Wara at full back.

And it was Bavanganga who gave the Blues the worst possible start to the game when he underhit an early back pass to Booth which allowed Liam Molesworth to latch onto it and fire past the Leek goalkeeper to put the home side one up after just 3 mins.

Leek could, and maybe should, have levelled the tie immediately. From the restart the ball was worked to Rob Stevenson on the left and he found Grice with a pass between the two central defenders that completely opened up the Coleshill defence. You would have expected the Blues all time top goalscorer to put away such a chance but his effort was too near Paul Hathaway and the Coleshill goalkeeper was able to make the save.

Coleshills own star forward, Kai Tonge, got in front of Booth on 6mins to meet a cross from the right but was unable to keep his header on target and minutes later Fraser Doyle tried his luck from 30 yds with an effort that sailed over as the home side tried to consolidate their advantage.

Gradually, however, the Blues started to get their passing game going and as a result went on to dominate large periods of the first half.

Stevenson was prominent in most of the visitors attacking play giving the Coleshill full back Vidal Hendrickson a tough time.

One such run and cross from Stevenson looked destined for Grices head until Hathaway was able to reach out at full stretch and just get enough of a touch on the ball to divert it away.

The Blues pressure finally paid dividends in the 22nd min. Joining the attack, Bavanganga atoned for his earlier error by producing a lovely left footed first time inswinging cross that found Stevenson arriving at the far post and he beat Hendrickson to head down and in beyond Hathaway.

Leek were well on top now and created another great chance on 30 mins. The ball was played up to Grice and his flick released the onrushing Ross Davidson who drove forward between the two central defenders. However instead of choosing to shoot he tried to square the ball to the unmarked Dan Trickett-Smith but overhit his pass. Trickett-Smith managed to retrieve the ball and tee up Marc Grocott but the captains effort was well over with the best chance having been lost.

On 34mins, from a Louis Keenan cross Trickett-Smith did well to get strength and direction on a header from just inside the Coleshill area and Hathaway was relieved to see it land just wide of his post with the keeper at full stretch.

The Blues dominance continued and they had two great chances in two mins. On 39mins a break down the right by Billy Reeves saw him deliver a perfect cross into the 6 yd box for Grice to come onto but the forward was stretching slightly and again shot straight at Hathaway who was also able to block and then smother and fall on Grices follow up effort for a double save. A minute later Reeves was played in on the right as Leek opened up the Coleshill defence once again but the midfielder miskicked his effort completely.

By this time Coleshill should really have been down to 10 men. One of the centre halves, Giovanni Dainty, had already been booked by the referee for a cynical foul on Trickett-Smith and had also committed one or two other offences since, before he then deliberately barged over Trickett-Smith as he was trying to take a quick throw in. To the surprise of many the referee chose not to issue a second yellow card.

And to rub salt into the visitors wounds further, after all of their dominance and chances created, Coleshill took an unexpected lead into the break as they scored their second goal on 44mins. It was a neat move down the right with a couple of good first time passes that allowed them to get round the Leek back line and when the low cross was delivered Molesworth was on the end of it. Booth made a partial save from the strikers effort and Olly Harrison tried to clear the looping ball off the line but could only deflect it against the post and in.

So it was with some bewilderment that the travelling Leek supporters saw their side troop in 2-1 down rather than two or three one up.

COLESHILL TOWN 2 - LEEK TOWN 1 HT

The Coleshill manager had clearly decided to not take any risks as a half time substitution revealed that Dainty had been replaced by Taylor Carter-Byrne.

Leek started the half clearly looking to get back into the cup tie and deservedly equalised for the second time on 51 mins as Grice met a corner from Trickett-Smith, and whilst Hathaway managed to tip his effort onto the bar Harrison was on hand to tap in the rebound.

The Blues had the ball in the net again on 56mins as Trickett-Smith finished off a counterattack through Stevenson but had just strayed offside, before finally taking the lead a couple of mins later.

Another attack down the Leek right saw Stevenson beat the full back and try to find Trickett-Smith with a driven cross. As in the first half Hathaway managed to get a hand to deflect the ball away for a throw in on the left. This was taken quickly by Keenan to find Grice in the area and the striker neatly turned his marker and found space to flash a powerful shot that smacked the inside of the post and into the net and the visitors had turned the game around to now lead 3-2.

With half an hour of the match remaining it was now Coleshill who were chasing the game and they nearly brought the tie level once more after a quickly taken short corner caught the Leek defence unawares and a resultant header goalwards by Niall Rowe flicking off the head of Harrison and hitting the bar before being cleared.

From another Coleshill corner Tonge also got in a header but saw it comfortably held by Booth above his head.

The hosts made another substitution bringing on Kyle Jardine who was to go on to play a pivotal role in the Coleshill fight back but not before Stevenson nearly put the game beyond their reach on 72mins as he rode one challenge and cut inside another before unleashing a curling right foot effort that just cleared Hathaways bar.

The first of Jardines contributions came in the 79th minute when the ball was played to him in the Leek area and in a tussle for the ball with Josh Ryder the substitute tumbled over and the referee awarded the penalty. Tonge made no mistake from the spot and the tie was level again at 3-3.

His second came in the final minute when a cross from the Coleshill right saw hesitancy in the Leek defence and Jardine nipped in between Wara (who had come on for Davidson) and Booth to stab home what looked like being thewinning goal.

Due to a the number of stoppages in the second half there was still a considerable amount of injury time to be played, with the referee indicating a minimum of 5mins at least. Baker immediately threw on forward Tom Carr for Ryder to try and salvage the game for the Blues and take it to the penalty shootout with no extra time being played.

For the first 5mins of injury time Coleshill managed the game magnificently as they kept possession for long spells in the Leek half with the Blues struggling to get up the field.

As the 95thmin arrived the Blues finally managed to break out and get into the Coleshill half but could not fashion anything meaningful and the ball went out of play for a Coleshill throw in. But for some inexplicable reason Hendrickson took a quick one and Leek were able to win possesion back and transfer the ball over to the right wing to Stevenson for one last attack. He drove past the full back and delivered a peach of a cross which Carr attacked and got in front of the culpable Hendrickson to head into the net and amazingly make it 4-4 and take the game to penalties.

And in the shootout that followed, whilst Trickett-Smith saw his spot kick saved by Hathaway, Reeves, Keenan and Grocott all scored for Leek and Booth produced two fine saves meaning Grice could win the tie with Leeks 5th penalty. 'Mr Leek Town' made no mistake placing the ball into the bottom left hand corner and sending the Blues into the hat for Mondays draw.

COLESHILL TOWN 4 - LEEK TOWN 4 FT

Leek Town win 4-2 on penalties

HIGHLIGHTS can be viewed HERE

Leek now make the long trip to Workington AFC on Saturday 1 October in Pitching In NPL West

Leek Town line up as follows

1. Booth

2. Bavanganga

3. Keenan

4. Grocott (c)

5. Harrison

6. Ryder replaced by Carr (90)

7. Davidson replaced by Wara (85)

8. Reeves

9. Grice

10. Trickett-Smith

11. Stevenson

Substitutes : Morris, Saxon (unused)

Attendance : 118