The first step on their journey to Wembley arrived with Ex Northern league team Shildon as the opposition.
As early as the ninth minute Benfield were indebted to goalkeeper Andrew Grainger who brought off a fine save from a shot by Shildon’s Michael Sweet.
Shildon were looking lively from the start and almost were given a goal start after a poor back pass from Benfield’s Kyle Errington was pounced on by Michael Sweet only for defender Brad Varga to come to the rescue with a strong tackle and clearance.
Twenty minutes had passed when Shildon had a glorious chance to open the scoring, a freekick for offside fell to Aiden Heywood six yards out, but he put his effort over the bar missing a chance when he should have scored.
A minute later a loose ball was pounced on by Cameron Gascoigne with his 20-yard shot just clearing the Shildon cross bar.
The opening goal came in the twenty-third minute when a hotly disputed corner was given to Shildon, the ball was floated to the far post to see a clearance header by Benfield’s Liam McNamara rebound off Shildon’s central defender Alex White entering the net, to make the score 1-0 to the visitors.
Another five minutes had passed when the next goal of the game arrived and it went the way of the home team, a long ball down the line was controlled by Ben Dibb-Fuller who turned to hit a fierce left foot drive into the top corner making the score 1-1.
The thirty-fourth minute brought a brilliant chance for Benfield to take the lead when a cross was charged down by the usually reliable striker Ben Dibb-Fuller, leaving him with a great scoring chance to get his second goal but from six yards he put it wide. Play then continued with both defences keeping the opposition at bay leaving the halftime score at 1-1.
The second minute of the second half saw the Shildon goalkeeper Jak Wells make a great save from a strong free kick taken by Cameron Gascoigne. Another scoring chance went the way of the hosts in the fifty-first minute with a thru ball leaving Dibb-Fuller one-on-one with Shildon keeper Jak Wells who came on top of the situation.
Another scoring chance went to the home team in the fifty-seventh minute, Dibb-Fuller did well to win the ball back pressurising Shildon defender Kurt Matthews before playing in Ryan McGorrigan, who failed to add to the Benfield score line.
Benfield had upped the pace of the game and a free kick in the sixtieth minute taken by Dibb-Fuller saw the Shildon goalkeeper Jak Wells save the ball for a corner. Shildon then went close to scoring in the seventy-second minute when they were awarded a free kick after Billy Greulich Smith was dragged back. From the free kick taken by Joe Postill, Benfield keeper Andrew Grainger saved for a corner which came to nothing.
Seventy-eight minutes had passed when a pass from Benfield’s Kyle Errington found team mate Ryan McGorrigan who saw his final touch in his shooting effort hit a Shildon defender and clear to safety.
It was a much better second half for Newcastle Benfield and in the eighty-first minute although looking like being desperate it was in fact good strong defending by Shildon’s Greulich Smith and Michael Sweet with fine blocks and good goalkeeping by Jake Wells.
Five minutes of the game remained when Benfield were awarded a corner, from the corner a quick break away by Shildon saw brilliant desperate defending deny a goal for the visitors with four blocks and two great saves by the Benfield keeper Andrew Grainger. This left the score line at 1-1 which was the final score with a replay on TUESDAY 23rd AUGUST 7-45pm K.O. @ Dean St Shildon.
Man of the Match … Lewis Leech.