On a heavy pitch at Parkside Road the Westmorland County FA Under 18 team put up a spirited performance against the might of Birmingham County FA in the national FA County Youth Cup.

As the game ebbed and flowed in the early stages the first clear chance fell to Westmorland’s Jack Brench who saw his shot well saved by the opposition keeper Dylan Mandaracas on 15 minutes.

At the other end Nathan Khan saw his shot cleared off the line by Ben Dixon (30 minutes) and Callum Debar shot wide on 35 minutes.

Half Time:      Westmorland County FA 0, Birmingham County FA 0

The visitors started the second half strongly hitting the bar on 47 minutes and opening the scoring on 56 minutes when Luke McGinnell headed home from a corner.  The home side were not despondent and Bailey Kenny saw his thunderous shot hit the post straight from the restart.

In turn the visitors could have increased their lead on 70 minutes when Debar also hit the post.

Westmorland continued to battle hard for the equaliser and Dan Ashton’s shot hit the bar from 12 yards out in the last couple of minutes.

 Birmingham now go on to play Oxfordshire FA in the 3^rd round.

Coach George Gudgeon was delighted with his teams battling performance against a strong visiting team.

Teams

Westmorland County FA:

Joe Fiddler, Brandon Colloby, Ben Dixon, Dan Jones, George Key, Dan Ashton, Joshua Casson, Bailey Kenny, Jack Brench, James Bennett, Jordan Archer-Nelson

Subs: Matt Kennedy, Kieran Hunter, Jacob Matthews and David Seaton

Birmingham County FA:

Dylan Mandaracas, John Daley, James Dutton, Alex Bonkar, Ben Tilbury, Tom Allen, Joe Maguire, Nathaniel Khan, Bozindar Alexandron, Luke McGuinnell, Callum Debar

Subs: Steve Simpson, Jake Calkwell, Jake Johnson, Dan Purvin

Referee: W. Davies (Manchester)

Assistant Referee: M. Hart (Prestwich) and S. Watson (Whitefield)