Rams v Silsden

Football under floodlights is always special and so it was in Ramsbottom on Tuesday evening with he home side earning the replay in Yorkshire with a late equaliser.

The FA was established at the Freemasons Tavern in 1863, and their ‘challenge’ cup - the FA Cup – followed in 1871. It is the world's oldest competitive football competition and Ramsbottom United had the chance to stamp their mark on it in front of their home fans.

The Rams, playing in blue, began well. Their high tempo start led a to a fierce shot just clearing the bar and then, on three minutes, Jacob Holland -Wilkinson latched on to a driven diagonal cross to fire past Brown in the Silsden goal and give the Rams the lead.

Silsden, in red, seemed shocked for the time with a couple of loose passes and edgy moments indicating a degree of nervousness. This was compounded on the half hour when a loose pass was seized upon by Luke Sefton. He drove forwards with the ball, steadied himself and then buried the shot past Brown to give the Rams a two-nil lead.

Strangely, the adversity seemed to calm Silsden, who settled and began to take the game to the Rams as chances flashed across the box - augmented by a couple shots being dragged wide from promising positions.

Nevertheless, two nil up at half time was at the upper end of Rams fans’ expectations.

After the break Silsden continued to probe.  Stand out striker Kayle Price was unlucky when he burst forward and elected to pull the ball back for a teammate rather than go for goal himself and the chance was squandered. Home keeper, Brad Rose, saw the ball sail past his right-hand post on more than one occasion.

A series of substitutes on the hour saw crowd favorite Sefton Gonzales return to the Riverside and Terry Cummings linked up with him to form a new look attack. The Rams, with Cummings full of running, also looked to extend the lead, and Brown clawed a goal bound shot off the line to keep them in the match,

As the minutes ticked by Rams fans began to think of a home  tie against Bootle, so the visitors, to their credit, persevered with their attractive passing game. There was however to be an astonishing conclusion.

Referee Abby Dearden indicated five minutes of injury time and, in the third of them, the excellent Price got away on the right and smashed in a low hard shot. Rose appeared to have covered, but the power took it past him and into the net.

It looked as though this was to be a consolation and met with a muted response from teammates and crowd alike. Within seconds, however, a corner was won by the visitors on the left-hand side. It was driven in and took the merest glance to guide the ball, past a stationary Rose, into the far corner of the net and for a scarcely believable equaliser.

Surprisingly, there was still time for the Rams to fashion an excellent chance to win the contest as Sefton Gonzalez side-footed the ball over the bar with the open goal at his mercy.

Extra time saw both teams go for the winner. Silsden, tiring but still creating chances. So too were the Rams. A corner led to a plethora of goal-bound chances with extended pinball as the ball smacked the woodwork and was then hacked off the line in a seemingly never-ending heart-stopping and match defining moments.  

With no further score it was on to the dreaded penalties. Even these contained twist and turns as Rams gained an initial advantage, through Baker before some - taken by youthful centre halves – were wasted.

There was almost a feeling of inevitability as Silsden captain, Jake Maltby, ambled to take the final one. His languid body language and calm finish rubbed salt into the Ramsbottom mood as Silsden celebrated their remarkable reprieve.

The home crowd filed away somewhat disconsolately. They wondered how their team, two nil up in the third minute of injury time, had contrived to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The disappointment will linger after a defeat which hurts - but there can be no room for self-pity as the Rams go again on Saturday and follow up with an important league game against Padiham two days later. The oldest football competition on the planet had produced its magic but, as far as the Rams are concerned, for all the wrong reasons.