The largest gate of the season to date welcomed Shepshed Dynamo and Stamford AFC to the Dovecote for the second qualifying round tie in the FA Cup. A bumper crowd of 474 supporters took their place for what was set to be a captivating contest.

Shepshed manager Gary Drake made one change to his side that beat St Neots Town 3-1 in midweek. Jowan Partridge, coming off with injury on Tuesday, was replaced in the defence by Jack York. Stamford made one change to their starting line-up following Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw with Redditch United as Kai Tonge replaced Freddie Robinson.

The Southern Premier side came out of the blocks the quicker of the two sides, forcing an early opportunity inside ten minutes. A low cross from Jason Law from the right fell into the path of Jack Thomas, taking it on the run into the penalty area. Thomas struck a firm, near-post effort from 12 yards out on the angle that required a spectacular save from Dan Wallis in the Shepshed goal.

Two minutes later, Law was causing danger again for the Dynamo defence. His curling effort from the right edge of the 18-yard box bent in towards the far post but ended up wide of the target to the relief of the home side,

Shepshed then enjoyed a spell of pressure loading the ball into the Stamford area predominantly from throw-ins and set plays. A long ball into the box produced a spell of head tennis with Jesse Friend’s header across the face of goal meeting the leap of Jude Collins. Unfortunately for Collins, his aerial effort at the near post cleared the crossbar on the half hour.

After a tense first half, the second began with Shepshed looking to put pressure on the Stamford goal. Two minutes into the half, the home side won a free kick 35 yards from goal out on the left. Jude Collins’ deep delivery found Niall Prenderville unmarked to guide a header low towards the far post. With the goal gaping, Prenderville’s effort agonisingly struck the woodwork and Stamford quickly rushed to snuff out the follow-up effort. A glorious opportunity.

Dynamo were looking dangerous and with 51 minutes played, the ball dropped to Jesse Friend 25 yards from goal in a central position. Friend’s volley was struck low and to the right of goalkeeper Tom Jackson but the Stamford stopper reacted well with a routine save.

Stamford’s first sight of goal came on 55 minutes. A through ball carved open the Dynamo defence and released Kai Tonge one-on-one with Wallis. The Dynamo ‘keeper stood firm to deny Tonge’s low effort but the rebound presented attacker Jason Law with an open net. Inexplicably, Law let Shepshed off the hook by firing his shot wide of the target when it looked easier to convert.

Unfortunately for the home side, on 63 minutes Stamford would eventually take their opportunity. A sprint to the byline from substitute Joao Varela produced a cross finding fellow sub Jon Challinor to guide a deft volley across Wallis and into the far corner, giving the away side the lead.

Six minutes later, Stamford struck again. A flick-on from a long ball released Tonge behind the Dynamo defence. Tonge kept his cool and took the ball around Wallis to coolly slide in the second for The Daniels. Two-nil and Shepshed had it all to do to get back into the tie.

Shepshed continued to pursue a way back into the game as Stamford stood firm against late pressure. Jude Collins turned sharply on the left-edge of the penalty area hitting a half-volley first time on goal. Collins’ powerful drive had Jackson diving but the Dynamo winger saw his effort flash narrowly wide of the far post.

Collins had one more opportunity to ruin Jackson’s clean sheet in stoppage time. A free kick 25 yards out, following a foul on substitute Josh Allen, cleared the wall and required beating away from the bottom right-hand corner by the strong arms of Jackson in the final action of the game.

An exciting FA Cup run is sadly over for another season for Shepshed Dynamo as Stamford proved a bridge too far on their road to Wembley. A valiant performance from the home side was bettered in the end by a clinical spell of finishing by the Southern Premier outfit. Dynamo will be back in league action on Saturday against high-flying Rugby Borough at the Dovecote.

Dynamo: Wallis, Bayliss, York, Peart, Timson (Barber 59’), Collins, Reason (Allen 81’), Friend (Dunkley 77’), Prenderville, Rogers, Dixon (Morgan 77’)

Stamford AFC: Jackson, Hobbins (Sharpe 71’), Bartle, Thomas, Cooke, Rowley, Tonge (Frew 89’), Vince (Charles 83’), Johnson (Varela 29’), Law (Challinor 62’), Wilson

Attendance: 474