Cleethorpes Town 0 - 3 South Shields
The Buildbase FA Vase is heading to Tyneside after South Shields defeated Cleethorpes Town at Wembley Stadium connected by EE on Sunday afternoon.
Graham Fenton and Lee Picton’s troops ran out deserved winners as they claimed the first national trophy in their club’s history thanks to goals from Carl Finnigan, Dillon Morse, and a late David Foley brace.
The Mariners found their feet the quickest and, with nine minutes on the clock, Cleethorpes keeper Liam Higton was forced to rush off his line bravely to deny former Falkirk frontman Finnigan after he was played in by Gavin Codgon’s clever reverse pass.
It took until the 25th minute for the Owls to get a foothold in the Final, striker Brody Robertson gained a yard on his marker before forcing keeper Liam Connell to tip away his low effort.
Shortly afterwards, a flowing team move saw Cleethorpes fashion a golden opportunity to open the scoring but the ball got caught under Marc Cooper’s feet just as he was shaping up to shoot at goal.
At the other end, South Shields’ Finnigan saw two efforts deflected away by blue and black shirts.
And on 42 minutes, Cleethorpes full-back Tim Lowe conceded a spot-kick as he clumsily tripped Cogdon.
Finnigan took the resultant spot-kick and calmly rolled the ball into the bottom right-hand corner to send the 10,000-plus travelling party of Mariners fans into ecstasy.
The Northern League Division One champions’ joy was nearly doubled in first-half stoppage time as Cogdon, who scored the opening goal when Spennymoor Town beat Tunbridge Wells 2-1 to win the 2013 Vase Final, saw a fizzing low effort tipped up and onto the woodwork by Higton.
Early in the second period, South Shields defender Morse headed onto the roof of the net and in the 49th minute, Foley took aim and his long-range howitzer was diverted onto the crossbar by an acrobatic Higton.
The Owls keeper had to be at his brightest again shortly afterwards to beat away a Cogdon strike while, at the other end, Robertson was denied by a diving last-ditch challenge from the Mariners’ Alex Nicholson.
The Mariners wrapped up victory with 10 minutes to go as Robert Briggs’ expertly-delivered free-kick was headed home by Morse.
Then, in the 86th minute, they added further gloss to an unforgettable day when Richardson’s clever ball cleaved open the Cleethorpes defence and, with only Higton to beat, Foley finished with aplomb.
The ex-Hartlepool United forward was not finished there however, and with normal time almost complete, he lashed home past Higton to round off a quickfire double.
Cleethorpes Town: 1 Liam Higton; 2 Tim Lowe, 5 Matt Bloomer, 6 Matty Coleman, 3 Peter Winn; 7 Liam Davis, 4 Liam Dickens, 8 Alex Flett (capt), 11 Jon Oglesby; 9 Marc Cooper, 10 Brody Robertson
Substitutes: 15 Andy Taylor for Cooper 61, 12 Luke Mascall for Coleman 70, 14 Jack Richardson for Davis 73.
Substitutes not used: 16 Gary King, 17 Kieran Wressel
Manager: Marcus Newell
Yellow cards: Davis 19
South Shields: 1 Liam Connell; 12 Alex Nicholson, 5 Dillon Morse, 4 Jon Shaw, 3 Darren Lough; 19 Andrew Stephenson, 6 Julio Arca (capt), 8 Wayne Phillips; 9 Gavin Cogdon, 21 Carl Finnigan, 11 David Foley
Substitutes: 7 Robert Briggs for Stephenson 55, 10 Michael Richardson for Finnigan 70, 17 Barrie Smith for Phillips 83
Substitutes not used: 16 Louis Storey, 20 Darren Holden
Joint-managers: Graham Fenton and Lee Picton
Goals: Finnigan 43 (pen), Morse 80, Foley 86, 89
Yellow cards: Cogdon 69
Referee: Darren England
FA Trophy Match Report
York City hoisted aloft The Buildbase FA Trophy for the second time in five years after a dramatic 3-2 victory over Macclesfield Town at Wembley connected by EE this afternoon.
The Minstermen may have suffered relegation from the National League this term but they went down in a blaze of glory by emerging victorious at the home of English football.
With eight minutes on the clock, York gleefully accepted their first goalscoring chance of the game, veteran striker Jon Parkin, playing at Wembley for the third time after previously featuring for both Fleetwood Town and Forest Green Rovers, glancing home a header from a Danny Holmes delivery.
But it took just six minutes for Macclesfield to get back on level terms, Rhys Browne latching onto the ball on the right side of the penalty area and firing into the net through the legs of Minstermen goalie Scott Flinders.
With just 22 minutes gone, York went ahead again as Sean Newton was set free in the box and slid a low cross towards the far post, where Vadaine Oliver was on hand to slide home his third Trophy goal of the season.
But back came Macclesfield, with Minstermen goalie Kyle Letheren forced to take flight to spectacularly tip away Danny Whitaker’s curling long-range attempt just past the half-hour mark.
Five minutes later, two more opportunities for the Silkmen to draw went begging as Whitaker was denied by Letheren at close-range before goalscorer Browne left his marker for dead and weaved his way toward the six-yard box superbly but blazed his attempted finish over the bar.
York looked set to safeguard their 2-1 lead right through until half-time but in added time before the break, Macclesfield’s Ollie Norburn lifted the metaphorical roof off Wembley as he powered home an unstoppable scorcher from 25 yards to tie things up.
Three minutes into the second period, the Minstermen almost regained their lead in freak fashion as a clearance smacked Oliver square in the face and the ball flew not far past the post, with goalie Flinders caught unawares.
As the half wore on, Antigua and Barbuda international Browne stung the palms of Letheren while the dangerous Whitaker snapped a volley just wide of the upright as he connected with a York defensive header.
In the 65th minute, Chris Holroyd and Browne combined to tee up Mitch Hancox, whose strike was beaten away by Letheren, and shortly afterwards, Kingsley James’ volleyed effort was superbly headed off the line by York’s ex-Macclesfield man Hamza Bencherif.
With just over 10 minutes to go, Silkmen midfielder James slipped in Browne, whose effort was charged down by stopper Letheren – and then came the late drama.
Parking bustled and barged his way into a shooting position and let fly, with his strike looping towards goal and being poked over the line by substitute Aidan Connolly to win the day for the Minstermen.
Having seen the winning goal poached by a team-mate, Parkin almost had the final say when one more late opportunity fell his way, but the seasoned frontman looped an effort onto the roof of the net.
Macclesfield Town: 22 Scott Flinders; 2 Andy Halls (capt), 4 Neill Byrne, 5 George Pilkington, 3 David Fitzpatrick; 7 Rhys Browne, 14 Kingsley James, 15 Ollie Norburn, 23 Danny Whitaker, 16 Mitch Hancox; 9 Chris Holroyd.
Substitutes: 6 John McCombe on for Byrne 67, 30 Luke Summerfield for Hancox 87, 29 Anthony Dudley on for Norburn 89.
Substitutes not used: 13 Craig Ross, 8 Danny Whitehead.
Manager: John Askey
Goals: Browne 13, Norburn 45
Yellow cards:
York City: 28 Kyle Letheren; 36 Daniel Parslow, 10 Yan Klukowski, 37 Hamza Bencherif; 8 Simon Heslop (capt), 33 Sean Newton, 17 Asa Hall, 35 Danny Holmes, 9 Amari Morgan-Smith; 29 Vadaine Oliver, 31 Jon Parkin.
Substitutes: 34 Adriano Moke on for Klukowski 45, 12 Aidan Connolly on for Hall 69, 2 Shaun Rooney on for Holmes 75.
Substitutes not used: 13 Luke Simpson, 21 Scott Fenwick.
Manager: Gary Mills
Goals: Parkin 8, Oliver 22, Connolly 86
Yellow cards:
Referee: Paul Tierney
Attendance: 38,224