RAMSBOTTOM UNITED...2, COLWYN BAY...1

FA Cup First Qualifying Round

UNITED continued their march towards the first round proper of the FA Cup with a well deserved victory over Unibond League outfit, Colwyn Bay, while pocketing £2,250 at the same time, writes Christopher Boothman.

Victory has ensured the Rams welcome back Conference North side Southport to the Riverside on Saturday October 2, when United will try to avenge the 5-0 defeat they suffered at the hands of the Sandgrounders when they last met, on October 17 1998.

After a tense opening the Rams settled down when Ewan Purcell struck a left foot shot that seemed destined for the top corner, but was gathered comfortably by Bay's former Rams' keeper, Ian Willcock.

Minutes later the Welshmen's Stewart White slipped the ball in behind the Rams' defence, but Calvin Davies failed to beat Rams' current stopper keeper Steve Dryden from inside the box.

John Blackley was then given a free header at the back post, but his effort flew narrowly over the Bay crossbar.

The Rams continued to press forward but failed to provide the killer pass when faced with well-worked chances, but the final opportunity saw the home side take the lead.

Adam Cook's cultured right foot drive looked to be heading into the arms of Willcock. However, he allowed the ball to squirm beneath his grasp and it rolled agonisingly over the line to give the Rams the lead.

Buoyed by this piece of luck, the Rams emerged for the second half all guns blazing and scored again within seconds of the restart.

Matt Edgington's perfect cross fell kindly inside the box for Shaun Spence and he calmly beat Colwyn skipper Neil Coverley to the ball before drilling into the top corner of the net.

This forced Bay into a double substitution and they began to show glimpses of their prowess, with Davies a constant threat.

On the hour a long ball from the back caused confusion inside the Rams' defence and Davies beat Dryden to the ball before slotting into the empty net.

The next 15 minutes saw the Rams camped mainly inside their own half.

On 70 minutes Davies again broke infield, but Dryden stood tall and pulled off a great save to deny the Colwyn hit man.

The Rams had a great chance to seal the victory when Buggie had a chance from just outside the six yard box, but Willcock saved.

RAMSBOTTOM: Dryden, Raywood, Skarratt, Kozlowsk, Robertson, Blackley, Edgington, Purcell, Buggie, Spence, Cook. Subs: Morris, Mackay (for Edgington), Brookes (for Buggie), Henry (for Spence), Andrews.