Management Cup Final u10s
Nova Stars 1 v Shifnal Harriers 1
(Shifnal won 4 - 2 on penalties)
On Saturday Nova Stars met Shifnal Harriers in the Management Cup Final at Shuker Fields – a late fixture change made it necessary to move the game from the scheduled Bucks Head ground.
Both teams had been unbeaten in their respective leagues throughout the season so the game was always going to be a tight affair.
Shifnal chose to play the first half with the wind at their backs which coupled with the large pitch allowed them to play long balls up to their front players.
This kept Andrew Gibson and Lewis Haselock busy in the Stars defence, but they dealt capably with any attack and the Harriers were unable to get any decent strikes on goal.
As the half wore on the Stars started to distribute the ball better through their midfielders Jamie Micklewright and Bobby Blythe up to front runners Daniel Coombe and Jack Bolderston.
On 16 minutes the first significant effort on goal from the Stars was created when Jack Bolderston shot from the edge of the area only to see the Harriers keeper safely gather the ball.
This was quickly released for a counter attack which had the Stars scampering back to defend and get the ball to safety.
Into the second half their was still nothing between these two teams until on 5 minutes Lewis Haselock played a long ball forward and the advancing Harriers keeper made a mistake on the edge of his area which allowed Jake Cheesman to gather the ball and round the keeper to score in the open goal to put Stars in the lead.
This gave the Stars much confidence and they were looking the better of the teams: defensively strong in Matthew Dixon and Jack Prince allowing good movement up front from Robbie Pilgrim.
As the game moved into the last few minutes of normal time Harriers pressed hard and had a hard shot on target which forced Stars keeper Nick Withers to make a great save.
With the referee indicating the game was in the literally in the dying seconds the Stars cleared the ball and Harriers were awarded a throw in which was quickly taken.
A long shot came into the Stars area and somehow ended up in the net and the whistle was blown for full time.
Harriers had had a very lucky escape and thus unable to separate the sides two periods of extra time were played during which neither team could score the vital goal to avoid the dreaded penalty shoot out.
The Stars keeper Nick Withers was unlucky when he twice faced penalties which he got hands too and forced wide but only for the ball to hit the inside of the post and go into the net. Eventually the Harriers went on to win 4-2 on penalties but Nova Stars should be immensely proud of the way they played.
All the Stars players, coach Wayne Coombe and manager Andy Micklewright rightly deserved the loud applause given too them by the parents for their outstanding efforts throughout this season.
