Lewis Byrne scored a wonderful solo effort against Penistone Church to book borough's place in the next round of the FA Vase and a mouthwatering tie against NWCFL Premier side Wythenshawe Town.
In a tough encounter against the team from South Yorkshire the young borough were able to see out a 1-0 victory but not without some sterling defending and quality goalkeeping from Harry Turner.
Penistone Church came into the game with a new manager, Brett Lovell after the departure in the week of Ian Richards to Stocksbridge Park Steels, but straight from the off you could see that the Penistone team were looking to impress their new boss.
The early spoils belonged to the visitors with good work from Nick Guest down the right and Luke Stewart up front. And with solid aerial presence from Tom Brennan and Jack Shepherd in defence, breaking down Penistone was going to be difficult.
On 25 minutes the deadlock was broken. Lewis Byrne ran onto a ball just inside the Penistone half after good work from Toby Wright and a crucial flick by Kyle Siddle. He then beat Brennan to the ball leaving the other defenders in his wake, and the advancing Penistone keeper Chris Snath tried to close down the angle but the confident and calm Byrne simply took the ball around the keeper before slotting home to give borough a 1-0 lead.
Lewis Byrne In Action
The visitors continued to prop looking for an equaliser but the borough defence stood strong with Gareth Wager and Joey Fallon able to stop any advancing runs from Penistone into the final third.
In the second half both teams had equal proportion of possession with Kyle Siddle being a constant menace down both wings. And since coming back from suspension the tricky winger has hit the ground running with several quality performances.
Penistone also had quality of their own in Nathan Keightley who in the second half did what he could to create space for the forwards. And with excellent delivery from the full back Tom Charlesworth, concentration from Harry Turner in goal was key.
Later on in the game Kyle Siddle was replaced by Alex Mellor on the right who illustrated just how strong this borough squad is with good movement and equal effect.
The referee brought the game to a close and borough had booked their place in the next round, which we now know will be a home tie against Wythenshawe Town.
Talking to Brent Peters after the game he said; "It was always going to be difficult against Penistone especially with a new manager in charge and lads eager to impress. It was up to us to make sure there were no slip ups and our concentration levels were on point. Confidence is high in the dressing room at the moment and as we've said on many occasions we do have a good honest bunch here who want to learn. It's excellent to be in the next round but our focus now is on the game with Daisy Hill next week."
NEXT UP | 18/09/21| KO: 3PM|Daisy Hill FC (Away)
New Sirs, St James Street
Daisy Hill
Westhoughton, Bolton,
Lancashire
BL5 2EB
