Lincoln United from the United Counties League Premier Division North are through to the fourth round of the FA Vase after defeating Congleton Town from the Midland League Premier Division 2-1
There was elation at the Sun-hat Villas and Resorts stadium after Lincoln United won a tight 2-1 victory over Congleton Town and secured the right of passage into the fourth round of the FA Vase.
216 turned out to watch The Whites take on visitors, The Bears from Cheshire who lead in the Midland League Premier Division.
Lincoln United are having a season to remember as well, sitting second in the United Counties League Premier Division North.
The Whites showed they were determined to succeed as the home side drew first blood as they got a goal on the board in just the 11th minute.
Bears keeper David Parton was beaten by The Whites' skipper as Matthew Cotton hammered one home to score his 19th goal of the season.
Four minutes later The Whites hit their second, and in just the first quarter-hour of the match, they looked like they were due to have a big win.
The second goal was scored by Tobias Liversidge who calmly slotted it past Parton.
Both teams would challenge the goal during the rest of the first-half.
Congleton looked strong at times and pressured the Lincoln United's defence who managed to stand firm until half-time.
The break saw The Whites come off their field with a 2-0 lead intact.
After an initial surge from Lincoln when both teams were back on the field, it was the turn of The Bears to start charging the United goal.
Jack Steggles made some pivotal saves in the second-half to keep The Whites in it but he couldn't keep them all out and Congleton got on the board in the 65th minute.
Max McCarthy hit a precise shot into the bottom left-hand corner from in close to make it 2-1 and halve the deficit.
Late opportunities for Congleton saw them nearly take the match to penalties but Steggles managed to make some fine saves to keep it at
2-1.
United kept their advantage to win the game and set up a fourth-round encounter with either Ashville FC or South Liverpool FC in the Isuzu FA Vase.
The man of the match accolades were awarded to Lincoln United centre half, Callum Foster for his defensive performance.
"We showed a different side to our game yet again," said Lincoln United manager, Chris Funnell.
"We started very quickly.
"The research we had done paid dividends.
"The goals came the way we thought they would.
"We had the ability to exploit space when available.
"The lads have dug in and shown another way to win a game of football by defending the box brilliantly.
"We were really strong and robust in our defensive performance.
"Congleton are a really good team, they work the ball well and worked the rotation.
"Their rotation caused us issues at times.
"We weren't as good on the ball as what we probably should have been but our defence was strong.
"I thought it was a really competitive game of football at step five.
"It was probably a tie that was, given our league positions and how we played today, worthy of being further along than the third round.
"We don't know anything about the potential opposition at this stage.
"We are delighted to be in the next round but we have a lot of league games to play before then and that is our bread and butter."
