West Auckland begin their FA Vase journey by travelling to Lancashire for the 2nd Round match at Kirkham and Wesham.
Kirkham have been making an impressive start to the campaign and won the the FA "Team of the Round" for their 5-0 victory over Parkgate in the last round.
The squad will depart at 10:30 on Saturday morning and hope to be near full strength. Danny Key and Scott Nicholson both picked up injuries against Nissan but hope to feature whilst Garry Barnes returned to training following his hip injury. Bryan Stewart is cup tied.
Lee Hutton will maintain his place in goal with Mark Bell expected to leave the club in the near future and not travelling with the squad.
KIRKHAM & WESHAM 3-0 WEST AUCKLAND
Saturday 17 November, 3:00PM, FA Vase 2nd Round Proper
Dreams of a good run in the FA Vase were dashed at their first hurdle as ambitious Kirkham & Wesham claimed the scalp of West Auckland.
West Auckland travelled to face Kirkham and, being from a higher League, began the game confidently - Dale Jardine's early fourth minute shot that was held, appeared to set the tone before the hosts caught West cold. A quick free kick found Mike Clark, his low shot flew past Lee Hutton and despite the best efforts of Jamie Middleton on the line, the ball nestled in the net much to the delight of the large home crowd.
West responded to the 9th minute opener with Kevin Bromley came close to pulling the sides level minutes later only for his shot to be deflected for a corner by a last ditch block by a defender. Danny Richmond also saw a shot held as West Auckland were the team making the running.
The hosts did not cause too much trouble on the West goal although in the 28th minute a shot form long range was just the wrong side of the post.
West struggled to create openings on the visitors goal as Kirkham and Wesham defended with many bodies behind the ball and in fact it was the hosts who could and probably should have taken a 2 goal advantage in the 35th minute, Lee Hutton not able to claim the ball with a shot put over the gapping goal. Hutton had push away a shot 3 minutes later as West's struggling first half performance meant they had a difficult task to turn it around against a confident home side in the second half.
The second half though started with West on the front foot and Kirkham penned back in their half. From the off West looked threatening and 5 minutes in felt they should have had a penalty with Scott Nicholson clattered by the keeper after heading the ball past him albeit away from goal.
The home side though were dangerous on the break and Ian Maddison had to hook the ball off the line in the 52nd minute to keep West within sight. The visitors then responded by coming ever more closer - this time a rasping Dale Jardine shot parried over the bar. From the corner, Scott Nicholson could not direct his header from 6 yards as the ball flashed the wrong side of the post
Kirkham then hit the sucker punch in the 68th minute as, after defending solidly, they broke quickly and when Lee Hutton tried to intercept the lob forward, Sean Paterson nipped in first to lob the ball over the stranded keeper and into the net to send the home fans wild.
It should have been 3, four minutes later when another quick break saw them turn the ball wide. Meanwhile any prospects of a comeback faded 7 minutes from time when, after Neil Robinson challenged with the keeper the ball broke to Danny Richmond but he could not turn the ball in.
After Lee Hutton had made another save it was the hosts who completed the win in the third minute of injury time when another quick break led to unselfish play as the forward played in Phil Blackwell who blasted the ball into the roof of the net for their third.
There was still time for West to rue their luck when they twice hit the woodwork - firstly Lee Ellison using his strength to hold and turn his marker and hit the post then a minute later Brian Fairhurst's close range shot rebounded off the same post showing it was not to be West's day.
1. Lee Hutton, 2. Michael Heckley, 3. Brian Fairhurst, 4. Ian Maddison, 5. James Middleton, 6. Danny Key, 7. Danny Richmond, 8. Scott Nicholson, 9. Garry Barnes (14. Lee Ellison 73 mins), 10. Dale Jardine, 11. Kevin Bromley (15. Neil Robinson 76 mins)
Subs Not Used: Thomas Louden, Stuart Owen