Source: burnleytoday.co.ukPadiham 0
FC United 3
YOU can't help but feel that the fireworks were in the wrong place on Saturday.
FC United's travelling hoards launched rockets during the half-time interval of this FA Carlsberg Vase tie.
But there seemed little to suggest that those fireworks had spread to the players, on the pitch.
Leading up to the game, Steve Wilkes had told his players to seize the day.
And just 10 minutes into proceedings, a certain course of events handed his players the perfect opportunity to do just that.
But Padiham let the chance to grab the headlines pass them by.
Rory Patterson's burst down the right hand side prompted Storks keeper Gavin King to come rushing out of his goal.
A sliding save on the FC United winger saw King seemingly take the ball cleanly, only for the referee to point to the spot.
That decision sparked scenes of disbelief from the Padiham players, not to mention King and skipper Paul Paynter.
Wilkes himself even paraded miles out of his technical area to air his views, on what was an appalling decision by the official.
However, justice was done when Patterson screwed his shot hopelessly wide of the post, with King rooted to the spot.
On the incident, Wilkes said afterwards: "It's never a penalty, the referee has even apologised at half-time. Yes the guy has put it wide, but I never thought we went on from that.
"For the first 60 or 65 minutes we were in the game but that was all, we never really seized the initiative.
"You would have thought them missing a penalty so early on would have boosted he lads, but it never did.
"We never got it down and played, we gave it away too much and you can't do that against anyone, especially FC United.
"But I just don't think we believed in ourselves that we could go out there and do a job."
A bumper crowd of 1,371 saw the visitors start like a train, with the Storks' defensive line having to be on their toes from the off.
Their first nervy moment came when, with seven minutes gone, Alex Mortimer got down the left and played the ball in for Rhodri Giggs, but the brother of Manchester United's Ryan had just strayed off-side.
The talking point of the game, let alone the first half, then came and went, but you got the feeling that the Storks never really seized the initiative from Patterson's penalty miss.
Patterson was enjoying himself on the right, and another foray into the box saw him flash a shot across the face of goal.
Stuart Rudd was inches away from heading in Giggs' centre, while Padiham's first real opportunity came when Paul Fildes hammered a free kick straight at Sam Ashton, after Paul Barrett had been hacked down on the edge of the box.
Ed O'Neill sent a drilled effort just wide of the upright, while Simon Carden came closest to breaking the deadlock right on half-time with a miscued scissor kick.
Going in at the break goalless, Padiham must have thought they were still in with a shout.
And they almost got their noses in front within minutes of the restart, as Barrett broke before feeding Fildes, but the former Nelson man took too long with his effort and shot wide.
From that point on, FC United began to dominate, with Rob Nugent and Josh Howard both seeing efforts sail over.
But just after the hour, the deadlock was broken when a ball into the box was flicked on by Rudd, and Carden beat the off-side trap to lift the ball over King.
An unmarked Nugent then headed over Mortimer's corner, but it was soon 2-0 when Giggs broke down the right and crossed low for Carden to head home from close range.
Substitute Adie Orr almost got his name on the scoresheet when he burst through, but King did enough to force a corner.
But the game was wrapped up in injury time, as Rudd latched on to a high bouncing ball, and lobbed King to leave Padiham wondering what might have been.
Padiham: King, Pickup, Ingham (Rutledge 82), Paynter, Barnham, Woods (McCluskey 74), O'Neill, Parkes, Barrett (Steele, 76), Fildes, Bennett. Subs not used: Galley, Rhodes.
10 October 2006
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