Having brought them back to Grounsell Park following a 1-1 draw in West Yorkshire, Heaton Stannington were eliminated from The FA Cup by nine-man Garforth Town in an entertaining replay.
The Stan came flying out of the traps and within less than a minute had opened the scoring. A Connor Walker tackle midway into the Garforth half presented Konner Lamb with the time and space to shoot from around 35 yards, with his effort flying into the top corner. A goal to remember, especially when we come to choose our favourite of the season when all is said and done.
Just seven minutes later, that lead would be doubled. The Stan drew a foul in a position which would ordinarily be a good place to cross from, but Dan Stephenson decided to throw his hat into the ring for Goal of the Season and hammered the ball, squeezing it between the near post and the goalkeeper at full stretch.
Midway through the half, Garforth began to fight back. Connor Walker slipped with the ball in the centre circle, and Jay Davis seized upon it quickly. Spotting the keeper slightly off his line, and using the swirling wind to his advantage, Davis took one touch to steal possession and a second to loft the ball over Corkhill from inside his own half.
From there, the away side had their tails up and piled on the pressure. The Stan’s narrow lead survived until half time, but was eliminated just three minutes down when a Garforth player was bundled over in the box and Max Tweddle converted the penalty.
The game took another twist on 55 minutes. Konner Lamb was put through on goal and managed to get a shot away, albeit not the sort of clean strike he would have hoped for had he not been pulled back by the last man in defence Joe Smith, who was shown a straight red card.
A basketball match ensued as both sides had big chances – Garforth even tried another goal from ridiculously long range – but no-one could prevent the game going to extra time.
Having battled against 10 men, but without making their man advantage count, the Stan’s task appeared to get easier with a few minutes of extra time remaining when Jamie Barkway was shown a second yellow card. But it was the nine men of Garforth who secured a place in the next round, as substitute Charlie Marshall was found on the edge of the box, and his first time finish was cushioned low into the net.
A night to forget for the Stan, one that manager Dean Nicholson called the worst in his tenure as manager in his post-match comments. Heaton will return to cup action with the club’s first ever FA Trophy tie at home to NPL East Division rivals North Ferriby on September 7th.
Heaton Stannington: Corkhill, Doyle (Beattie 46), Sayer (Hornsby 102), Stephenson, Turnbull (Marriott 74), Shepherd, Walker, Slaughter, Anderson (Lashley 74), Hopper, Lamb (Foster 88).
Unused Subs: Ellison, Burn.
Goals: Lamb 1, Stephenson 8.
Yellow Cards: Stephenson 105, Slaughter 110.
Referee: Tyler Dutton.
Attendance: 502.
Match Photos: Flickr 1 and Flickr 2.
Liam Milburn