Adam Nicklin will never forget 28 February 2015: it was the day his two penalty saves sent Yorkshire village side North Ferriby United to The FA Trophy Final at Wembley.
Bath fought back from two goals down to tie the first leg, and Nick McCootie quickly put them a goal up, but home captain Liam King levelled the tie from the spot midway through the second half and when nothing could separate the sides in extra time, Jason St Juste hit the winning shoot-out penalty after Nicklin's heroics had paved the way for the win.
North Ferriby United 1-1 Bath City
3-3 on aggregate AET, 4-2 on penalties
The FA Trophy
Semi-Final second leg
3pm, Saturday 28 Febraury 201
Grange Lane, North Ferriby United
Winners receive £16,000 from prize fund
By Andy Lloyd-Williams
Bath's brave first-leg recovery gave an extra air of optimism to their players and supporters ahead of their four hour journey from Somerset.
And they burst out of the traps at the start of this Conference North v Conference South showdown and within the space of two minutes McCootie had nudged them into a 3-2 aggregate lead.
He was the man who levelled the tie late in the first leg, and swung the pendulum in the Romans' favour after being played in by a delightful Sekani Simpson cross. He made no mistake with a header from close range.
But they only went into the break in the lead thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Jason Mellor, who stood tall against the menace of Tom Denton on serveral occasions. United's number nine then hit the post before half time as Ryan Kendall was also repelled by the former Clevedon Town man.The men in green and white kept going and Liam King levelled the tie from the spot with just over an hour played. Denton was adjudged to have been pulled back by Phil Walsh and the captain's crisp strike made it 3-3 on aggregate.
Billy Heath speaks to his squad on the pitch ahead of extra time. Photo from DG Media
They should have gone ahead after that goal, with Denton heading over the crossbar and Russ Fry going close with a free kick. But then Bath menaced as the 90 minutes approached in this breathless tie, leaving Ferriby boss Billy Heath a relieved man as the sides entered 30 minutes of extra time.
Chances began to dry up as legs tired in extra time, with Russ Fry receiving his marching orders for a second yellow card after a foul on sub Andy Watkins. Bath couldn't capitalise and spot-kicks would decide which team would be heading to face Wrexham – a Football League side as recently as 2008 - at the national stadium.
The shoot-out happened in front of the visiting supporters, giving them a close-up view of the tragic sight of Dave Pratt and Ross Stearn having penalties saved.
Nicklin was the hero with those two denials as Liam King, Nathan Jarman, Adam Bolder and Jason St Juste all converted their spot kicks to send the Yorkshire village side to Wembley.
North Ferriby United: 1 Adam Nicklin, 2 Sam Topliss, 3 Josh Wilde, 4 Liam King, 5 Gregg Anderson, 6 Danny Horne, 7 Danny Clarke (Adam Bolder), 8 Russell Fry, 9 Tom Denton, 10 Ryan Kendall (Nathan Jarman) , 11 Jason St Juste
Substitutes: Adam Bolder for Clarke, Nathan Jarman for Kendall
Subs not used: Matt Wilson, Tom Nicholson, Nathan Peat
Bath City: 1 Jason Mellor, 2 Sekani Simpson, 3 Andy Gallinagh, 4 Phil Walsh, 5 Dan Ball, 6 Chas Hemmings, 7 Dan Bowman (Ross Stearn), 8 Ben Adelsbury (Andy Watkins), 9 Dave Pratt, 10 Nick McCootie, 11 Frankie Artus
Substitutes: Ross Stearn for Bowman, Watkins for Adelsbury
Subs not used: Pat Keary, Ashley Kington, Chris Allen
