Mud, sweat & tears for Corsham as Ascot hurdle on to Wembley
Corsham United – 2
J Rusby 50’ S Keet 68’
Ascot United – 2
B Matthew 34’ R Gerrard 78’
1st April 2023
Those who have been on the FA Vase journey with these two battle weary sides will long remember an epic semi-final that was played in good old fashioned football style; there was mud, there were goals, there were swings in momentum and at the end there were tears!
Credit to the staff at Corsham Town who battled from the very early hours of Saturday morning to get the game on, despite the heavily sodden surface both teams coped well with the conditions and put on a performance that left nothing on the pitch at the end of the ninety minutes.
Corsham fell behind late in the first half but were ahead by the midway point of the second, United hit back to take the game to penalties, both goalkeepers made saves during the spot-kick drama however Sean McCormack scored the fourteenth to send the Berkshire side through to the final.
The home side dominated the early stages & should have taken the lead when a back pass to United custodian Rhys Forster saw a heavy touch allowing Kane Simpson to pounce and nick the ball, just as it seemed he’d roll into the empty net, the keeper recovered to dive on the ball and save the day.
Forster continued to be the busier of the goalkeepers, however Ascot slowly grew into the game and broke the deadlock just ten minutes from the break, Harry Grant sending Brendan Matthew away down the right channel and holding off his marker he poked past Sam Jepson in the Town goal.
Town were then indebted to their keeper moments later as he instinctively turned away another Matthew close range effort, the momentum swinging back in the hosts favour five minutes after the restart when James Rusby was first to a corner to turn home off the post.
If the home faithful were relieved to see the equaliser, they were in dreamland on sixty-eight minutes when another cross swung in saw Forster amongst a few bodies push the ball away to the edge of the box which Sean Keet connected with a powerful drive into the back of the net.
But parity was restored ten minutes later when substitute Marcus Mealing fed Matthew to the right of the area, as Jepson rushed out to quell the danger the striker flashed the ball across the six-yard box where Rob Gerrard raced in to thump past a defender on the line and ensure penalty drama!
Chris Allen stepped up & scored first for Town, Harry Grant duly levelled before both Jon Davies & Harry Tucker saw their efforts saved; from there Matt Swann, Nathan Davis & Dan Demkiv all scored for Corsham with Matthew, Mealing & Alfie Grant levelling on each occasion.
With sudden death now in play, Sean Keet hit the post for the home side, but Rob Gerrard could not get past Jepson, Simpson then saw Forster save his effort leaving McCormack to net and spark mass hysteria amongst the Yellamen players, staff & supporters all behind the goal. F/T: 2-2 (4-5 pens)
Attendance: 1,736
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