Tinpot Are on the Way to Wembley - Tipton Town 2 Market Drayton 0 - FA Carlsberg Vase 2nd Round - 17/11/07

My options were plentiful as I set off from work in Solihull, I had plenty of time to get to a plethora of games. I thought about going to Bewdley Town but that might have been cutting it a bit close but there was still Dudley Sports, Lye Town, Bilston who are still playing at picturesque Bantock Park and the one I was really trying for, Oldbury United who are currently ensconced at Pelsall. Oldbury were playing Dunkirk in the Vase and it was Blog pun heaven (Dunkirk spirit and all that!).
Then I reached the outskirts of Birmingham and ground to a halt, Christmas shopping has obviously started then! It took me another hour to do seven miles and I was left with just one possibility, a quick jaunt the couple of miles to Tipton Sports Academy and their FA Vase tie against Market Drayton. Cameron and I made it for kick off though and even managed to grab tea (60p) and bacon butties (£1.60) before taking our seats.

On paper this would probably go down as an away win, Market Drayton are sitting just below the leaders in The Midland Alliance with a couple of games in hand and Tipton have been struggling for goals recently and sit lower mid-table in the same division, although I note from the programme (£1 I think) that they had scored four goals in each of their last two games. Mind you four of those were against the rather less than good Brereton Social, currently propping up the Midland Combination Premier Division.

Quick confession. I forgot to charge up the batteries in my camera! So no pictures again. I am so good at this! To that end I have pinched a couple of pictures of the Tipton badge and team from their website.
Hope you don't mind and they will, of course, be removed on request. I think the webmaster posts on Tony Kempster's forum so I'll go and confess on there in a bit!

Anyway, to the game, in between jumping up and down and kicking a football around with Cameron I did watch some of it, and Tipton started excellently, a couple of times they threatened to unlock the Drayton defence and finally did so after about twenty minutes, Calum Martin latching onto an excellent through ball to slot home confidently. Four minutes later they scored again, Danny Bragoli showing that he's lethal from a yard out after the ball had hit the post and rolled along the goalmouth.

For the rest of the half, indeed for the rest of the game, Market Drayton vainly tried to get back into it, but a combination of stout defending, good goalkeeping (even if he does tend to punch rather than catch a bit too often) and woeful finishing meant that Tipton progress to the third round. Dreams of Wembley perhaps? Well maybe not, there's another four rounds and plenty of good teams out there yet but you never know do you?
Tipton, famous for Stayvie Bull and scratchings but maybe one day for a football team as well?

Hmmm...scratchings, although some might say you'd be better off eating the pencil.

Attendance - 88
Price - £5 Adults £2.50 Kids
Programme - 28 pages £1
Temperature - Cold, very, very cold.
Tamworth watch - Lost 3-2 at Harrogate, only three points above the relegation zone, a win needed very soon.