There was excitement in the air at Queen Street this halloween as the club and its supporters dared dream of another great FA Vase run.
And there were ‘ghouls galore’ as Bilston Town ran out worthy 4-2 winners against in-form Step 5 team, Heanor Town.
The Steelmen started well with a couple of early corners forcing Heanor’s defence immediately onto the backfoot. Darragh Bustin whipped both balls in nicely, with Natty Hewitt forcing an early save from their goalie at the near post.
A free kick taken by Hewitt after 13 minutes also saw Bilston come close, with Bustin stooping low to get his head to the ball, which just looped over the bar.
Heanor gradually started to feel their way back into the game with their number 7 and forward line showing some neat trickery and speed that had Bilston’s defence working hard to counter.
The increase in tempo eventually saw Heanor gain a corner down their right side, and a well worked short sequence of passes saw the ball reach their number 9 on the edge of the box. His wicked right-footed shot gave Crump no chance as the ball nestled into the corner of the Bilston goal.
Slipping behind seemed to galvanise Bilston’s players, with some good work from Sam Cudjoe-Yankson almost being rewarded, and a Ben Priest effort on goal pushed wide from a couple of yards out.
Heanor were always looking to counter and looked dangerous when doing so, but the defence and midfield worked tirelessly to close them down and a fantastic sliding tackle from Harry Dixon in the 23rd minute epitomised Bilston’s efforts.
There was almost a goal on the 25th minute for Bilston when a Heanor defender sliced the ball towards his own goal, but their giant keeper was alert to the threat and managed to palm the ball away.
The counter-attacking threat of Heanor continued, with some good play from their number 7 and 11 leading to a shot on goal that was saved down low by Crump. A deflected ball from the resulting goal kick left the Bilston backline helpless, but the Heanor striker couldn’t finish, with his effort curling just over the bar.
Bilston’s equaliser came on 38 minutes after some brilliant footwork from Harry Dixon just outside the box led to a free kick being awarded.
Darragh Bustin stepped up and curled the free kick around Heanor’s 5 man wall and beyond the keeper, into the bottom left corner of the net.
Bilston came closest to scoring again at the end of the first half after some nice play from Yankson set up Nathan Guest. Sadly his left-footed shot went just over the bar.
Half time 1-1.
The second half started with Heanor Town pushing for another goal. Haydn Hall cleared one attempt off the line with his head before more sustained pressure from the visitors resulted in a couple of quick-fire corners.
The second of these resulted in a goal, with a fierce left-footed shot beating the outstretched arms of Crump and landing nicely in the bottom corner.
Despite being 2-1 down, Bilston refused to give up – out-working their higher league opponents and pushing forward at every opportunity.
The second Bilston equaliser eventually arrived thanks to this consistent pressure, with Harry Dixon getting between the Heanor defence and causing havoc, allowing Yankson to stab his pass out to Nathan Guest arriving at the back post.
A sweet right footed volley from the tightest of angles gave the keeper no chance, and it was very much ‘game on’ with the scores now level at 2-2.
Bilston continued to push forward looking for a winner, but the Heanor team made things scrappy and a stonewall penalty for a foul on Harry Dixon was not given.
The Steelmen were firmly in the ascendancy at this point, with a couple of whipped balls across the goal by Yankson and Bustin not quite finding their runners, and a throw-in worked down the left almost setting Guest up for a second.
Yankson and Hewitt were subbed off with 20 minutes of the game left, with both receiving a loud round of applause for their efforts. Jordan Crump and Luke Carter came on in their place.
Bilston’s third goal came in the 78th minute following a great run from an excellent Callum Bright down the left. He burst through before playing the ball to Guest by the corner flag. Guest sold their defender a dummy before whipping the ball across with his left foot to the waiting Jordan Crump. Crump forced the ball into the net from a couple of yards to give Bilston the lead for the first time.
The Steelmen were in their groove and continued to pressure the Heanor defence through a series of long throw-ins and corners. It was from one of these that Bilston’s fourth goal came.
The ball came across to Nathan Guest who was able to play the ball back to Callum Bright. Bright struck the ball cleanly with his left foot, with the ball just evading the diving goalkeeper’s outstretched arms and nestling nicely into the net.
Jordan Crump almost made it five after a brilliantly taken throw in caught out the Heanor defence, but it wasn’t to be.
A great performance by a frighteningly good Bilston team; resilient in defence, strong in midfield and exciting up front.
A true Halloween spectacular.
Final Score: Bilston Town 4 – Heanor Town 2.
Richard’s Man of the Match – Nathan Guest
Johns’s Man of the Match – Harry Dixon