FA Vase Third Round Replay
Langford Road, Biggleswade
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 138
Match Rating: 4
I haven't watched as many games in the FA Vase as I would have liked this season, with there not being many sufficiently tempting ties at new grounds for me. And this game almost slipped under my radar until I noticed a tweet from the home club declaring the game as definitely "on" following heavy rain in recent days. A match between two of the pacesetters in their division at a new ground sufficiently motivated me to head up to Bedfordshire for the second consecutive Saturday.
Langford Road, which is also home to Southern League Premier Division Central outfit Biggleswade Town, is about a 15 minute walk south westwards from Biggleswade train station, and if one wishes to visit a ground with character, charm and quirkiness, this ground will inevitably disappoint in all honesty, but it is spacious, offers decent facilities with plenty of cover, and presumably could easily be enhanced if required. It is located out of town, right alongside the busy A1 dual carriageway, and a track from a main road leads between football pitches either side, and ends with the long brick clubhouse. The brick turnstile block is located to the right, and spectators then find themselves in one corner of the ground. Just before reaching pitchside is the entrance to the clubhouse, which is bright and roomy inside. Straddling the half way line on the entrance side is a fairly large metal stand, neatly decorated in the club colours of green with five rows of seating and more than enough legroom. Between the entrance and the stand is a burger van. Close to the corner flag behind the far goal there is a small modern metallic stand covered metal terrace steps, whilst straddling the half way line along the other length is a much smaller stand between the dugouts, covering steps to stand on. There is just hard standing around the rest of the pitch, with wooden perimeter fencing. The 28 page programme was more than sufficient, containing some interesting reading material and all of the necessary stats and facts, but with 12 pages of advertising. Apparently for the first time, the club also published the programme online.
These two teams were originally scheduled to meet in a league fixture here today, but this FA Vase Third Round Replay was required to be played instead after the original tie finished 1-1 last Saturday. No doubt Biggleswade would have been the happier to earn a second crack at progression on home turf, having had to come from behind and then having a player sent off on the hour mark and so had to play the final hour (including extra time) with ten men. These two clubs top the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division, with Biggleswade top following 14 wins and a draw from their opening 16 league games, two points ahead of Tring Athletic, who have won 13 and drawn two of their 18 league games.
Similarly to last Saturday for me, gloomy rainy conditions greeted my arrival at the ground, but just before kick-off, the clouds parted to leave blue skies and even some sunshine. But a major difference was how cold it was today, with a strong, raw wind blowing across the ground. Unsurprisingly, this was a tight game for long periods, with both teams well organised to repel some good attacking moves. It was not the most exciting of games to watch, but it was certainly intriguing, as the tension and drama increased as the game progressed. Both teams had sights of goals during the first half, but the scoreline remained goalless at the break.
The game followed the same pattern in the second half, but the deadlock did look a little more likely to be broken, particularly by the home side, who amongst other sights of goal, saw a far post header from a corner blocked on the line on 69 minutes, and a fizzing shot glanced the top of the crossbar on 82 minutes. Tring had their moments too, but with neither side managing to find a way through, once again extra time was required to try to find a winner.
The first half of extra time was an even more cagey affair, but there were some real chances in the second period to avoid the need for penalties. Tring had the first two big chances, seeing a shot deflected over and then the ball was struck past the onrushing goalkeeper and heading for goal, only for a defender to make a lunging clearance virtually on the line. Then Biggleswade had a great chance when, following a corner, the ball was blazed over the bar from a close range, central position, and then a sweetly struck shot from 25 yards went only just over the bar. But unsurprisingly and perhaps inevitably, penalties would be required to decide who would progress to the last 32 stage of the competition.
With Biggleswade taking the first penalty, what would follow would be a really impressive set of penalties, all struck emphatically and not giving the keepers a sniff - with one exception, as Tring crucially saw their third struck over the bar. The remaining Biggleswade penalty takers kept their nerve to scored their remaining two, to win the shoot-out 5-3 and send their players into wild celebrations. On balance of play and chances throughout the game, it was the right result, but it really was a day when it was a shame that there had to be a loser and it was impossible not to feel sympathy with Tring, albeit that they did have 240 minutes to win the tie. Biggleswade can now look forward to a home tie against Eastern Counties League Premier Division outfit Stowmarket Town in the next round in the New Year, with dreams of a date at Wembley next May becoming ever more plausible.
Video highlights of the penalty shoot-out can be viewed here
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