Heaton Stann report

Heaton Stan 1 Carlisle City 3

Saturday 9th September

Carlisle City earned their first ever win in the FA Vase competition as they picked up the win in a return to the North-East. Highlight of the game came from the ever exciting Kyle Armstrong…

The opening goal of the game came in the tenth minute as assistant manager/player Jonny Allan did well to find space. Josh Simpson saw the run from the halfway line and sent in a weighted ball to the striker. With Allan through on goal, he took the ball into box as Jordan Ray caught up to him. The defender caught City’s man and the ref pointed to the spot. Kyle Armstrong stepped up and casually dinked a panenka down the middle to open the scoring. 0-1 11”.

In the 27th minute, the home side had a good chance after a quick exchange between attackers. Abubaker Salim made a subtle one-two with Shane Jones who played in Salim inside the box, he took a shot but Michael Ballantyne got down well at his near post.

Into stoppage time, another chance came for Heaton Stan as Jones found space for a shot. His initial strike struck his teammate Lee Johnson and rebounded back to Jones, he then hit his second and that was dealt with by Ballantyne once again.

Half-time 0-1
Ethan Tait on for Johnson

Simpson was inches away from doubling the lead a few minutes into the second half, his free kick was tipped over the bar by a stretching Matthew Smith. That corner was sent in by Aaron Bradbury and Dan Greenslade met it at the back post, his half volley didn’t have enough contact to reach the target.

Nevertheless, the second goal came for city after another set piece. A ball in by Bradbury wasn’t dealt with in the box and fell to that man, Jonny Allan. After a bounce, he took advantage of the loose ball and toe-poked it past the keeper from close range. 0-2 51”.

The home side kept the pressure on however, and were inches away from pulling a goal back. A cross from Joshua Holland was headed out but, only as far as Jones. The striker’s half volley was slice but it struck the crossbar and rebounded away.

55” Rob McCartney on for Kyle Armstrong
57” Ben Davidson on for Rhys Graham

On the hour mark, the hosts were reduced to ten men as Ray received his second booking (first for earlier penalty) for dissent this time.

Eventually, Heaton Stan pulled a goal back to make the last part of the game even more interesting. Tait sent in a cross on the right which was deflected onto the bar by Bradbury, city cleared for a corner which was swung in by Salim. A mix up in the defence meant that everyone missed the ball and it fell to Wear at the back, he simply volleyed the corner into the empty goal 1-2 66”.

67” Jonathan Wright on for Adam Laidler.
70” Daniel Robinson on for Jones.

With fifteen minutes to go, despite stepping off a bit following the sending off, the visitors sealed the game. Subs Davidson and McCartney worked well on the right and made some good passes between each other. A low pull back from the former gave McCartney space in the box to gracefully place the ball in the bottom corner. 1-3 75”.

76” Daniel Balmer on for Jonny Allan

Regardless, the North-East side kept pushing for a second and only the phenomenal efforts of City’s no.1 kept the scoreline the same. The home side did well to get into the away side’s box and Salim took a shot which was blocked by Dave Wallace. It spiralled back out to Wright and his close range effort was met by superb reactions by Ballantyne who parried the ball away.

The final chance of the game came for City and Brady Wiser was unlucky not to make it 4-1. Balmer picked up the ball on the right and hit a pass across the box where Wiser ran in at back. He struck the ball and aimed for the near post, that’s exactly what he hit and it ricocheted off out of touch.

The Sky Blues wrote a but of club history today with that win and made a successful return to the north-east. Our next home game will be in the second qualifying round of the FA Vase on the 23rd of September, further details to be announced.

Teams:
Heaton Stan-Smith, Watchman, Dixon, Ray, Wear ©, Imray, Holland, Johnson, Jones, Salim, Laidler.
Subs-Wright, Shaftoe, McCarthy, Robinson, Tait.

City-Ballantyne, Addison, Bradbury, Read, Wallace, Greenslade, Graham, Simpson ©, Allan, Armstrong, Wiser.
Subs-Davidson, Coward, Carr, McCartney, Balmer.

By Will Stuart