Match Report: Silsden AFC 1-5 Bootle FC

By Brendan Doyle

Bootle travel to Yorkshire and score five in the FA Trophy for a second time in the 2026/27 campaign as we go through to the third qualifying round of the FA Trophy after defeating Silsden AFC 5-1.

Silsden found themselves down to ten men after only nine minutes of play as Lewis Gardner brought down Ben Hodkinson in the area whilst denying him a goal scoring opportunity, Hodkinson of course buried the penalty to put Bootle 1-0 up to continue his prolific run of scoring goals. After further chances from Matty Fenton, Ste Edmondson and Ben Hodkinson aiming for a second, Jay Roberts put a magnificent ball into Declan Daniels who got a perfectly connected header onto the ball for it to find it’s way under Silsden keeper Tommy Brown to double Bootle’s lead.

Ste Edmondson managed to dance past Belchior Rodrigues and got a shot away towards goal from a very tight angle but it was only blocked by Silsden skipper Jake Cassidy to keep the scoreline at 2-0, Silsden were seemingly hanging on and trying their best to keep a positive shape in the game at this point. Ben Hodkinson whipped a ball into the box from a corner which found Declan Daniels who got a head to it but it clipped the crossbar, if the effort was just two inches lower it would’ve been a fantastic afternoon for double D as his all round performance in Yorkshire was superb, the first half ended 2-0 to Bootle.

The second half didn’t really have any pace into it with no real chances up until the fifty seventh minute as a ball from Lewis Doyle found Jack Lenehan unmarked in the Silsden area who nodded home Bootle’s third goal of the game. After some brilliant link up play from a number of Bootle shirts, Ste Edmondson met a squared ball across the area to smash home his first time effort to give Bootle a four goal lead, the lads made it look very easy at this stage of the game.

Substitute Jack McGowan put his mark on the game after cutting in on his left foot and taking a shot on goal just outside the area aiming for the top far corner which flew right in leaving Silsden keeper Tommy Brown with no chance of getting to it, an absolute outstanding goal from Jack McGowan. However, despite Bootle’s clinical performance in Yorkshire, the hosts pulled one back as Hamza Hamdosh latched onto a through ball and put his effort past Joe Mason to get a consolation goal for Silsden.

The game finished 5-1 to Bootle and our name is in the hat for the draw of the third qualifying round of the FA Trophy.