Westbury Utd 1-2 Cribbs FC – FA Vase 2nd Round, Sat. 24th September

All the notable action in this wind-affected encounter was condensed into a 10 minute period during the 2nd half as Cribbs snuck into the next round.

Both teams struggled with the conditions as well as the inability to break down well organised defences. The 1st half and opening 15 minutes after the break were littered with poor play and only a few opportunities.

Jamie Jordan had a 25 yard effort blocked and a lovely move involving 5 players ended with George Bendle being flagged offside. At the other end Rhys Hodgson had an 18 yard attempt blocked, but that was as exciting as it got before the break.

United had more than held their own and took a deserved lead on the hour when Jake Stephenson’s fine ball found Matty Mantay, whose effort was blocked, with the ball falling to Otis Young who tapped it into the net.

Full of confidence, Westbury went all out for another goal but the turning point came a few minutes later when both Young and George Bendle were unable to double the hosts’ advantage. Bendle showed good skill only to see Mat Turner save his low shot and there to be no other attackers in the box.

Then Dave Atkinson’s cross found Bendle and he had another effort blocked with Young unable to apply a finish.

This allowed the visitors to catch their breath and they equalised on 67 when Lewis Hedges’ low cross from the right was crisply finished by Jack McKenna who had raced forward from the left wing.

With Westbury’s heads down Cribbs then quickly scored their winning goal when Charlie Heydon’s parry from Darren Edwards’ attempt fell to George King who put it into the empty net.

There were a few openings for United to force extra time but Cribbs defended well against Nathan Hallett-Young, while Jordan saw a 25 yarder deflected wide; United threw everyone, including Heydon, forward for the corner kick in a last ditch effort to force extra time but the visiting defence held firm.

Star man: Jake Stephenson. Team: Charlie Heydon, Jordan Pinder, James Hounsell, Jordan Lawrence, Matt Jones, Jake Stephenson, Jamie Jordan, Ian Groves, Otis Young, Matty Mantay, George Bendle. Subs: Dave Atkinson, Grant Gunning, Nathan Hallett-Young (used) Ben Forester (unused).