The 2010 FA Trophy Final was the 40th final of the Football Association's cup competition for levels 5–8 of the English football league system. The match was contested by Stevenage Borough who won the competition in 2007 and 2009, and Barrow who won the competition in 1990. Although Stevenage Borough, who had won the Football Conference were pre-match favourites ahead of Barrow who had finished 15th, Barrow won 2–1 in extra time, after the match had ended in a 1–1 draw.

Club backgrounds

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Borough were the first non-league team to appear three times at the new Wembley Stadium, London after winning two of the previous three FA Trophy competitions through victories in 2007 and 2009. Stevenage became the first team to win a competitive match, and subsequently, a competition trophy following the reconstruction of Wembley Stadium.Kidderminster 2–3 Stevenage BBC Sport Match Report of 2007 final The supporters of the club occupied the West End of Wembley Stadium and will do so again in the 2010 final.

Barrow The last time Barrow appeared in the FA Trophy final was 1990, when they won 3–0 against Leek Town.List of FA Trophy winners They were making their first appearance at the redeveloped Wembley Stadium, in their second season in the Conference National following promotion from the Conference North.

Route to the Final

BarrowRoundStevenageKettering TownA1–0 Walker 49'First RoundEbbsfleet UnitedH2–0 Beardsley 16', Bridges 88'Maidenhead UnitedA1–0 Bolland 8' Second Round Vauxhall MotorsH6–0 Roberts 22', Boylan 40', Bridges 74' 76', Drury 78', Long 80'GatesheadH1–1 Bond 63' (pen.) Third Round Dover Athletic H4–1 Sills 32', Beardsley 42', Bostwick 57', Odubade 85'GatesheadA3–2 Walker 36' (pen.), Jones 44' (o.g.), Bond 73' ReplayYork CityH2–1 Bolland 5', Walker 35' (pen.) Fourth Round WorkingtonH2–1 Long 55', 90'Salisbury CityA1–0 Blundell 75' Semi-FinalsFirst Leg Kidderminster HarriersA5–1 Bridges 26', 43', Odubade 38', Beardsley 70', 83'Salisbury CityH2–1 Walker 51' (pen.), 89' Semi-FinalsSecond Leg Kidderminister HarriersH0–0

Match

Summary Barrow seemed to begin the game more brightly out of the two sides, with three shots in the first ten minutes. It was on the ten-minute mark where, in Borough's first attack of the game, Andy Drury lashed a strike straight into the top corner of Barrow keeper Stuart Tomlinson's goal. This goal seemed to change the feel of the game, with Stevenage applying more and more pressure until, on 28 minutes, Stevenage midfielder David Bridges was shown a straight red card for serious foul play on Barrow No. 7, Andy Bond. The game was evenly balanced from then until half-time.

Barrow began the second-half brightly, creating plenty of chances; Stevenage had a few chances, however Barrow seemed to apply more and more pressure. On 79 minutes, substitute Lee McEvilly placed a header into the bottom right corner of Chris Day's net. Barrow exerted more and more pressure from then onwards, until 90 minutes when Borough keeper Day suffered an injury and was replaced by Ashley Bayes. Deep into added time when extra time seemed likely, Robin Hulbert went in for a challenge with his elbow, meaning the referee had no choice but to show red. Stevenage substitute Charlie Griffin had a huge amount of blood coming from his face, there was no way he could continue. They had already used all three subs, meaning the extra time was played 10 against 9 (Barrow 10 players, Stevenage 9).

The first half of extra time was even, but Barrow were possibly edging it. The second half of extra time could not have started better for Barrow as Jason Walker struck a stunning 25-yard strike into the top left corner of the goal. Barrow seemed to try to play the clock down and Stevenage had a few decent chances, before on 117 minutes Barrow had a 3-against-1 on the keeper, which amazingly, they missed. In the end, it didn't matter and the trophy went to Barrow.

Details

GK 21 Stuart TomlinsonRB 2 Simon SpenderCB 4 Paul Jones (c)CB 5 Phil BollandLB 3 Paul EdwardsRM 8 Paul Rutherford CM 6 Robin Hulbert CM 7 Andy BondLM 24 Simon Wiles FW 9 Jason WalkerFW 26 Gregg Blundell Substitutes:GK 1 Tim DeasyMF 8 Mark Boyd FW 10 Lee McEvilly MF 11 Carlos Logan DF 12 Mike PearsonManagers: Darren Sheridan Dave Bayliss GK 16 Chris Day RB 25 Ronnie HenryCB 5 Jon AshtonCB 14 Mark Roberts (c)LB 3 Scott LairdRM 23 Andy DruryCM 18 David Bridges CM 24 Michael BostwickLM 30 Joel Byrom FW 20 Chris Beardsley FW 11 Yemi OdubadeSubstitutes:GK 1 Ashley Bayes DF 2 Lawrie Wilson MF 8 Stacy LongFW 9 Charlie Griffin MF 30 Peter VincentiManager: Graham Westley

References