Lancaster City forced into another FA Cup replay after Bury AFC draw

Lancaster City will have to play a replay of their FA Cup tie against Bury AFC after Saturday’s game ended 1-1.

The Dollies were set to have a welcome midweek of no fixtures but now will play at Radcliffe’s Neuven Stadium, ground-shared by Bury AFC, on Wednesday to decide who progresses to the third qualifying round.

City manager Mark Fell felt they were lucky to still be in with a chance of getting into the next round, based off their performance this weekend.

It’s not the first time this season that they’ve have had to replay their initial cup tie. Their first round qualifying match against Stalybridge Celtic ended 0-0, but the Dollies progressed in the replay, winning 1-0.

City made a new signing during the week – defender Patrick Allington joined from Holker Old Boys and he was included in the starting 11.

Bury opened the scoring within 30 minutes, before succumbing to a long period of pressure from Lancaster in the second half and conceding through a Paul Jarvis strike.

The upcoming replay will undoubtedly add more physical strain on to Mark Fell’s players. City have been dealt a harsh hand with injuries so far this season, and today was no different. Halfway through the first half, Nico Evangelinos pulled up with a knee injury and was replaced by Dom Lawson.

That wasn’t before City had their first real chance at goal. Dale Whitham’s effort after he found himself through on goal was stopped by Jack Atkinson who made a great save and was there to see to the rebound as well.

Bury had one or two chances to attack before they took the lead just before the half hour mark. Lewis Gilboy played a one-two with Niall Cummins before coolly hitting the ball low into the net past Curtis Anderson.

The away side could have doubled their lead before the break, Anderson managed to get to Matthew Williams’ shot to deny them a two goal advantage. Henri Ogunby’s effort for Lancaster City just moments later went over the bar.

City began the second half with intent, creating loads of opportunities including a disallowed Dom Lawson goal, with the striker judged to he offside.

After 20 minutes of intense pressure, the Dollies finally got the goal they had been looking for. It came through Paul Jarvis, who dodged the attempted tackle of Bury defender Jake Kenny and poked his effort home.

It’s the continuation of a brilliant story for Jarvis, who has battled two testicular cancer diagnoses in the last few years. It’s his first goal for the Dolly Blues since his return to the Giant Axe this summer in his third stint at the club.

Bury almost responded straight away, but Anderson got down low to deny Matthew Williams once again.

With 15 minutes to go, Kyle Brownhill of City and Niall Cummins went into the ref’s book after being involved in a heated exchange between both sets of players following a strong tackle on Williams.

Another City player suffered an injury late into the game. Captain Andy Teague was replaced by Joel Davidson after picking up a knock. That’s now 11 first-team players out with injuries at the club.

Bury players and fans alike claimed there should’ve been a penalty late on in proceedings as goal scorer Gilboy went down in the box but the referee gave nothing.

There was a great attendance at the Giant Axe, with 591 fans turning out to watch the game.

Dollies boss Mark Fell pulled no punches in his assessment of the game, telling the Lancaster City website that, particularly based off the first half performance, “we should be out (of the cup), let’s be honest, let’s not dress it up.

“Credit to Bury, in the first half they were very, very good, but we allowed them to be very good.”

He added that Lancaster’s performance in the first 45 “is probably the worst I’ve seen”.

“The biggest concern for me was how well we played in the first fifteen minutes of the second half. You can’t pick and choose (to play well) against any sort of opposition with any quality.

He had some very kind words to say about goalscorer Paul Jarvis.

“He’s an inspiration to us, the supporters, his teammates, everybody. He’s a great example of his mentality and grit and determination can get you through some really tough times. It was great for him to score today, I’m made up for him and his family.”

Looking ahead to Wednesday night, Fell said “we’ve got to try and make sure that we deliver a performance that says that they’ve had their chance to win the tie here and not taken it and we go and get the job done.”