Whitley Bay fight back to salvage Semi-Final first leg draw.
Barwell |
3-3 |
Whitley Bay |
Cunnington 2, Charley |
|
Bell, Chow 2 |
The FA Carlsberg Vase
Semi-Final First Leg
3pm, Saturday 27 March
Kirkby Road, Barwell FC
Winning clubs receive £7000 from The FA's prize fund
Click here for fixtures
FA Carlsberg Vase holders Whitley Bay came from two goals down to salvage a 3-3 draw in their Semi-Final First Leg tie against Barwell.
After starting strongly, the away side took a deserved lead on 12 minutes when Chris Fawcett’s cross was headed home by Phil Bell.
Barwell were not behind long, however, and after Kevin Charley sent a ball into to box, Adam Cunnington reacted first to head in the equaliser on 25 minutes.
Cunnington then put the hosts into the lead with a superb solo goal. After picking the ball up on the halfway line, he charged towards goal before firing into the net.
Things went from bad to worse for Ian Chandler’s Whitley Bay after Cunnington repaid Charley for his early assist with 12 minutes remaining.
After collecting the ball out wide, Cunnington whipped in a cross that was met by Charley, who fired in to give his side a two goal advantage.
With Barwell having gone the season unbeaten up to this game, it looked like it was going to be an uphill battle for the side from the North East to rescue anything from the match.
But Whitley Bay showed the desire needed to win the competition with a late surge that resulted in two goals to level the match.
Substitute Paul Chow headed in with just minutes on the clock to bring the visitors back into the tie.
He then became the hero of the afternoon after equalising in the final minute to make things all square as the two sides go into next week’s second leg.
