Ruthless Cleethorpes End Southall's Wembley Dream

Southall (0)2 Cleethorpes Town (3) 5

Southall's marathon FA Vase run was brought to an abrupt end as their first half defensive frailties were punished by a strong Cleethorpes side that plays a level higher than Southall in the non-league pyramid, and has lost only two league games all season.

After a scrappy opening 15 minutes, Southall suffered a blow when prolific striker Wayne Harvey had to go off injured before having had any real chance to contribute. Five minutes later, an incisive Cleethorpes move caught the Southall defence completely napping, Liam Davis giving the Lincolnshire side the lead. Southall pressed forward in response, winning a corner, only to carelessly give the ball away, setting up another blistering Cleethorpes counter-attack, resulting in Jon Oglesby slotting into an empty net. The wheels were well and truly coming off for Southall now, and a comedy of errors in the Southall defence gifted Oglesby his second and Cleethorpes' third. The visitors were now threatening to completely run riot, and despite the deficit, the half time whistle came as a relief to Southall and their fans.

With a mountain to climb, the home side began the second half brightly, and started to create chances, but in the 55th minute the need to attack resulted in an under-manned defence, another Cleethorpes breakaway, and an easy finish for Brody Robertson in front of the large and colourful contingent of away supporters behind the goal. To Southall's credit, they didn't lie down, and indeed pulled a goal back straight away through Liam Hind. In fact, Cleethorpes were forced onto the back foot for long periods before an error by Southall keeper Michael Power-Simpson gifted Davis his second and Cleethorpes' fifth, with seven minutes of normal time remaining. There was still time for Southall's impressive recent signing Rowan Vine to snatch another consolation straight from the restart, and with three minutes plus plenty of injury injury time left on the clock, Liam Highton in the Cleethorpes goal had to make a blinding save to deny Southall a third goal, which on the balance of second half play might just have made things interesting!

Southall can take pride in their second half display, which gave a definite glimpse of what might have been. However it was all too little too late, and it was Cleethorpes who sent their lively contingent of supporters home with their own Wembley dreams firmly intact. They had made a tremendous racket getting behind their team from start to finish, and generated the kind of atmosphere that is often missing from non-league football. They were a real credit to their club.

Southall's “bouncebackability” will now be tested, with a difficult Tuesday night home fixture against in-form Broadfields Utd, and an even tougher looking Saturday visit to high flying Baldock Town. Although due to Southall's slow start to the season promotion looks too tall an order, a top four finish is achieveable, which would secure a place in next season's FA Cup qualifiers. This would be a significant landmark for the club, so there's still plenty to play for in what has been Southall's best season for decades.

22nd February 2017