Stourbridge 2 North Ferriby United 2

..their higher ranked Skrill North visitors. The Glassboys goal led a charmed life at times as the hosts struggled to get to grips with a strong and lively North Ferriby attack.

Stourbridge's pre-match plans were hit by traffic problems on the motorway which caused Nathan Bennett to eventually miss the game, while George Washbourne arrived late before taking his place on the bench. The tie then got off to an explosive start with Luke Benbow picking up a booking within 10 seconds of the kick-off for a late challenge on visiting defender Paul Robson. Stourbridge shaded a rather scrappy opening period, but they fell behind with 13 minutes gone when Nathan Jarman wriggled his way into the box and towards the right-hand by-line before Jamie Oliver fell in trying to make a tackle and handled the ball to concede a penalty. Jarman then sent Dean Coleman the wrong way with his spot-kick. The East Yorkshire side then took control of proceedings. In the 22nd minute a ball forward by Nathan Peat was turned across by Anthony Wilson into the path of Danny Clarke, but his 20-yard shot was safely held by Coleman. Five minutes later a right-wing corner by Jamie Yates was only cleared out to Russell Fry and his drive from the edge of the box was deflected on to the underside of the crossbar. The home side tried to respond with Ben Billingham working a one-two with Ryan Rowe through the right channel area and he then fizzed a rising shot over the bar. As the Glassboys goal came under more pressure, the ‘woodwork’ again came to the rescue on 39 minutes with Jarman’s chip drifting over the head of Coleman and hitting the crossbar and the ball rebounded to Anthony Wilson, however Coleman managed to block his shot. In first-half stoppage time a header by Jarman looked to have put Liam King through, but Coleman reacted quickly to save at his feet.

The second period continued in a similar vein. In the 53rd minute Fry laid the ball off to Jarman and his low shot from 18 yards was pushed round by Coleman diving down by his left-hand post. Soon afterwards Gregg Anderson glanced a header wide of the far post from Yates left-wing flag-kick and then on the hour-mark Anthony Wilson burst into the left-hand side of the box and his low shot was partially saved by Coleman diving low to his left before Leon Broadhurst cleared the ball off the line. Five minutes later Stourbridge had a let-off when Jarman reached a through ball ahead of Coleman and lobbed the keeper with the ball looking in all the way until it bounced up off the surface and onto the crossbar. Instead in the 69th minute the hosts rallied to draw level against the run of play. A right-wing corner from Sean Geddes was only half cleared to Luke Benbow and from the corner of the penalty area, he drove a low shot through a crowd of players and into the far corner of the net. Three minutes later North Ferriby were reduced to ten men after Anthony Wilson went down under a challenge that the visitors insisted was inside the box, however a free-kick was awarded by the referee and Matt Wilson took his protests too far and saw red for comments made. Despite being a man short, North Ferriby remained on top. A free-kick from Fry was flicked on by Jarman, but sub Danny Hone saw his header run wide, then a strong run from Clarke took him to the left-hand by-line and he threaded a short pass inside to Jarman who drilled a low shot past Coleman’s far post. Eight minutes from time a low shot from Jarman was not held by Coleman and Anthony Wilson turned home the loose ball, only to be flagged offside. As North Ferriby continued to push the Glassboys back, a Coleman save and goal-line clearance from Kyle Haynes in quick succession kept the visitors at bay, but the resulting corner from Fry towards the near post area was glanced home by Jarman and that looked like being the match-winning goal. Gary Hackett pushed Will Richards into the attack and a late rally saw Oliver drill a shot wide and Benbow have another effort blocked, however three minutes into time added on Andre Francis spread the ball wide to Washbourne on the left and he delivered in a telling deep cross that Richards headed home at the far post to salvage an unlikely draw and set up a replay at North Ferriby.