Penalty Pain in County Cup Final

Buckingham Athletic’s under 18’s challenged for their first piece of silverware on Sunday where they hoped the Berks and Bucks County Cup would be their first success of the campaign. However a poor first half proved to be the key to their downfall as they gifted two goals away to Mursley to make it difficult for themselves.

Buckingham never looked like themselves in the first half as they failed to create chances, something that has become a usual problem in the last couple of weeks. They often score several goals, but they seem to have dried up in recent games, and in this final, they couldn't get themselves going in the final third.

There was controversy over the first goal where a through ball over the top found a Mursley forward, who was taken down by Laurence Mills in goal. It was hard to examine if there was much contact, but the penalty was given and tucked away to grab the lead. With frustration kicking in, one error dealt a killer blow as Robbie Carter’s back pass found a Mursley forward who finished the one on one with Mills.

As the half time whistle blew, the players knew they had a serious battle on their hands to produce a comeback. When they came back out though, there was fire in the bellies of the players as they started to commit more and look more dominant. Some strong tackles in midfield from Matt Chew and Rory Busby gave them some inspiration, and a goal came with 20 minutes to go when Geraint Minney found the bottom corner to tilt the momentum.

There was a huge amount of desire in the players now to try and win the game and they found a second goal from the same scorer as Minney slotted away his second to level the scoring. It looked like Athletic would go on to win the game after that when Jamie Sylvester and Ben Acquaye both had chances in the last ten minutes, but it just didn't come due to some outstanding goalkeeping from the Mursley keeper.

As the whistle blew, there was no extra time, which meant it would go straight to penalties. It was how they got to the semi- finals after beating Beaconsfield, but after three of the four players missed penalties in this game, it handed a victory to Mursley and heartbreak for Buckingham. The rest of the season is now focused on the league as they look to wrap up the title to save their season and make it a success still.