Stalybridge Celtic 1
Nantwich Town 0
FA Trophy (1st Round Qualifying)

Match Report

A second half penalty was enough to knock Nantwich Town out of this season’s FA Trophy away at Stalybridge Celtic.

Jamie Morgan’s push in the penalty box convinced the referee to award a spot-kick to the hosts. And Fabian Speiss could not save Scott Bakkor’s 78th strike which earned Stalybridge a 1-0 win.

It had been a relatively even contest up until that point, with Joe Malkin, Craig Lindfield and Sean Cooke providing plenty of threat up front for the Dabbers.

Speiss was also called into action on numerous occasions as the hosts – below Nantwich in the league – looked to use home advantage in the cup clash.

Matt Bell’s effort almost gave Dabbers the lead on 56 minutes but it was cleared close to the line.

Then two minutes later, Lindfield was unlucky as his header (pictured) from a fine Jamie Lawrie cross cannoned back off the Stalybridge crossbar.

Callum Saunders saw a header drift narrowly wide from a Troy Bourne cross, before Speiss came to Nantwich’s rescue with a fine save with his legs as the hosts pressed forward.

Then came the push by Morgan on Sharp, and the penalty was drilled down the middle by Scott Bakkor to give the hosts the lead.

Nantwich huffed and puffed in the final 10 minutes, with veteran Steve Jones thrown into the action, but could not find a way through.

Match report written by the Nantwich News