Birtley Town 1 Squires Gate 1: Ten-man Gate bow out of FA Vase in shootout

Elliot Pond goes close for Gate at Birtley Town Picture: IAN MOORE

Gate defeat Fylde in entertaining workout

Gate were buoyed by their midweek win over AFC Fylde for this visit to Birtley of Northern League division two, though new signing Andy Howarth was unavailable.

Chances were few and far between in the early stages as the tone was set by a heavy challenge on Gate skipper Sam Staunton-Turner inside two minutes.

As similar challenges followed in a highly competitive game it was only a matter of time before the referee took action.

He did on 23 minutes, when tempers flared after a foul by a Birtley player and Gate’s Dean Ing was shown a straight red card for abusive language towards an assistant referee.

Birtley looked to take advantage of their extra man but Ryan Drane dragged his short wide from the edge of the area and Lewi Teasdale was also off-target with a header.

Striker Teasdale made up for that miss three minutes before half-time, when he peeled away at the back-post to tap a great cross into an empty goal.

The hosts almost doubled their lead in added time as Joe Barwick poked the ball past keeper Jordan Gidley only to see Josh Westwood clear off the line.

Gate adapted to having 10 men in the second half as Ryan Riley and James Boyd assumed more central roles to support Elliot Pond, who was now leading the line on his own.

Riley threatened and had a free-kick grabbed at the second attempt by the Birtley keeper.

The hosts had chances to increase their lead, the unmarked Chad Collins missing a golden opportunity from close range on the hour.

And they were made to pay as Gate levelled from the penalty spot on 75 minutes.

The hardworking Pond was pulled down and Boyd buried the spot-kick confidently.

Both sides looked for a winner but defences held firm and the tie went straight to penalties after 90 minutes.

Pond and Jamie Ramwell were unsuccessful with Gate’s first two but Boyd netted the third to keep them in the game.

But when Drane dispatched Birtley’s fourth successive penalty the shootout was all over at 4-1.

Gate: Gidley, Gourley, Taylor, Staunton-Turner (c), Holden, Westwood, Riley, Pollard, Pond, Ing,Boyd; Subs: Dodd, Garrett, Kaye, Baldwin, Ramwell