Colne were held to a scoreless draw by Ossett United in their Second Qualifying Round tie of the Emirates FA Cup at the Sovereign Play Stadium on Saturday. The Reds created some good chances but found Ossett keeper Brett Souter in good form to keep a clean sheet and take the tie to a replay on Tuesday night.
The Reds made a lively start to the game with Aidan Chippendale finding space on the left wing but Sefton Gonzales blasted a close range shot over the bar after nine minutes and three minutes later, Chippendale had his shot blocked by a defender after rounding the keeper in the area. At the other end, Nicholas Guest and Tom Greaves made good runs but the Colne defence coped well with Lee Pugh making solid tackles.
After 18 minutes, Gonzales burst into the Ossett penalty area on a through ball and was brought down by a defender’s tackle from behind but the referee waved aside Colne’s vociferous claims for a penalty. Two minutes later, a Colne corner reached Matty Makinson in front of goal and his powerful header was kept out by a dramatic diving save on the line by keeper Souter. And Souter was again in action saving a shot from Tony Donaldson from a half clearance as the first half continued.
The second half started with some end-to-end play with neither side coming close. But after 70 minutes, a Colne corner produced a looping header from Andy Hollins and a spectacular one-handed save by Souter to keep the ball out of the top corner of his net.
Eight minutes later, at the other end, Ossett threatened when Guest broke clear in the area to the left of goal but pulled his shot across the goalmouth.
With seven minutes remaining, Colne won a free kick 25 yards from goal and Waqas Azam’s curling shot was turned over the bar by the fingertips of Souter with another excellent save.
The Reds will feel they still have a good chance of getting through to the next round in Tuesday night’s replay having got the measure of the opposition in this game.
Colne Team
Hakan Burton
Alex Coleman (C)
Lee Pugh
Marcus Poscha
Matty Makinson
Andy Hollins
Tony Donaldson
Joe Coveney
Sefton Gonzales
Aidan Chippendale
Waqas Azam
Connor Hughes
Billy Hasler-Cregg
Reece Webb-Foster
Will Harris
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Max Hazeldine