Heartbreak for Lancaster City as Dolly Blues miss out on play off place by one point

Lancaster City came agonisingly close to securing a play off place in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, missing out by a single point.

The Dolly Blues needed to win their final game of the regular season, and hope rivals Stockton Town slipped up in their fixture to secure 5^th place in the table, and the chance to earn promotion to National League North, the division Morecambe have just been relegated into.

Jimmy Marshall’s men did their bit – beating Stocksbridge 2-0 at the Giant Axe – but a late winning goal for Stockton meant the Dollies just fell short.

The Dolly Blues had already created an opportunity within two minutes. Bailey swung in a cross, aimed towards Caine, but Steels goalkeeper and captain Ben Townsend was there to deal with the threat.

More chances were carved out early on, with the visitors having the first shot of the match, which flew over the bar. Meanwhile, Steven Yawson caught and regained possession from Townsend, who was well out of his box, but the attacker was unable to capitalise on a gaping net.

Lancaster number one Brad Kelly was called into action on 11 minutes by James Morris. The Steels forward unleashed a dangerous shot on goal, but Kelly was equal to it.

Assisted by Bobby Bjork, Bailey opened the scoring after 22 minutes. He received the ball from Bjork before placing the ball past a frozen Townsend.

Each side had another chance before the break – Simon Grand had to make a crucial block on 36 minutes, and Bjork dragged a shot wide from 30 yards out right before half-time.

Jimmy Marshall’s side came out swinging in the second half with two chances within the first five minutes. Dylan Thompson’s shot on the edge of the box was deflected into Townsend’s grasp, before a bobble saw Yawson send a close-range shot over the bar following a great passing move on the right flank.

End-to-end action followed. Luke Rawson almost pulled off an acrobatic effort at one end, before the Dolly Blues surged up the other end which resulted in Townsend using his face to defend a goal-bound shot.

Grand headed wide from a cross on 65 minutes, but three minutes later, Caine doubled Lancaster’s lead. The ball was headed across goal, and the forward brought the ball down and onto his left foot, allowing him to viciously bury it into the net.

Substitutes Jim Craig and Matty Clarke almost made instant impacts. The latter supplied the former in the box, who volleyed the ball towards goal, but Townsend produced an impressive save to prevent a third.

Rawson headed over the bar, unable to grab a consolation for the relegated side with five minutes of normal time remaining. Bjork then tried his luck from range as the clock hit 90 minutes, but his effort curled high and wide.

A standing ovation was visible at the Giant Axe as Christian Sloan, the captain, exited the field for the final time in Dolly Blue colours. His replacement, Pat Allington, maintained Kelly’s clean sheet by making a sliding interception right as the referee blew for full-time.