Sports U13's 2 Newark Town FC 2 a.e.t
Sports win 6-4 on penalties

Saturday 8th January 2005

 

NO. 1 JOSH GETS SPORTS TO THE LAST 8.

On FA Cup 3rd Round day, our U13 Boys were turning it on in the 4th Round of the Nott’s FA Challenge Shield.  Not even Extra Time could produce a result between the two sides, so it took all the drama and excitement of a penalty shoot out, to deliver the final outcome.  This was no fixture for the faint hearted, as YEL Division 3 Toppers Hucknall Sports took on the formidable Newark Town FC at home. 

High winds contributed significantly to this game, with both sides finding it difficult to play the ball on the ground, and it was a bobbling ball advanced through the Hucknall defence that allowed the Newark Town No. 15 a golden opportunity after just 6 minutes to get his team off to a flying start.  Hucknall responded with some proud football, inventively using the team’s ability to deploy diverse tactics.  After 24 minutes, Jan Westrik burned down the right to deliver a cross that Vijay Digpal was only able to deflect back out to the advancing Kane Barker, who instinctively flicked it back to the repositioned Digpal, managing to tuck it neatly past the sprawling ‘keeper to equalize. 

It took Newark just 6 minutes again to find the Hucknall net for their second goal leaving Hucknall Sports desperately hanging on for the last 5 minutes of the half, against some heavy wind assisted pressure from the travelling team.  Goal keeper Joshua Priestley braving many Newark offences to keep the half time deficit down to one goal, a close range ‘tummy-buster’, and a fully outstretched save within a minute of each other, were particularly commendable especially with his well strapped up wrist.

Hucknall Sports played the wind advantage of the second half to the full, pressuring the Newark goal at every opportunity.  The equalising goal came in the 50th minute with Digpal burying a sliced ball through from Danny Jones, to bring it all even again.  Newark Town then knew what they had to do to contain the Hucknall forwards and held out brilliantly for the remaining 20 minutes of the second half, forcing extra time.  However, neither team were able to monopolise the wind advantage in either 10 minute period, so the inevitable penalty competition ensued. 

It took courageous efforts from the spot kicking of Ross Lamb, Harry Beal, Vijay Digpal and Shaun Holmes to maintain the Hucknall goal scoring tally at 100%, but it was the heroic bravery of No. 1 ‘keeper Joshua Priestley, that won Sports the day and got the team safely through into the quarter finals of the competition, himself the Man-of-the-Match Trophy, and the deserved admiration of all the fans.