Brown the spot hero
ANDY BROWN held his nerve in a dramatic penalty shoot-out to fire
BRACKLEY to FA Trophy glory at Wembley.
BROMLEY, favourites from the National League, thought they had won it with Omar Bugiel’s 19th-minute strike but a Roger Johnson own goal deep into injury time levelled things up at 1-1.
The two teams could not be separated in extra time so it went to penalties.
Goalkeeper David Gregory saved Shane Byrne’s first kick for Brackley so Bugiel had the chance to win it again for Bromley with their fifth spot-kick, but he put his effort over the crossbar.
Bromley captain Gareth Dean missed his side’s first sudden-death penalty, leaving Brown to score and give the National League North underdogs a 5-4 shoot-out victory.
Shane Cooper-clark scored the only goal of the game from the spot as THATCHAM beat STOCKTON in the FA Vase Final. NEMANJA MATIC knows there will be even more pressure on Manchester United next season following their FA Cup Final defeat by Chelsea.
United ended the campaign empty-handed after losing at Wembley and Matic said they must make big signings this summer to ensure they do not suffer the same fate next season.
“When you don’t win one year, the next year there’s always more pressure,” said the Serbia midfielder.
“When you play for a club like Manchester United, it’s a normal thing and we have to accept that and deal with it. I think we need some players with experience to bring some more qualities to our team.
“After that, we can fight for the Premier League title and the Champions League also.”
United may have finished second in the Premier League this season, their best position since Sir Alex Ferguson (right) retired in 2013, but Saturday’s defeat showed they remain a work in progress.
Jose Mourinho’s side lacked any spark and despite dominating possession in the second half, never looked like scoring the goal they needed to rescue the game.
Matic, one of the few United players to emerge from the defeat with any credit at Wembley, claimed they must view this season as one of progress, given the improvement in their league position.
But Mourinho’s inherent pragmatism as a manager remains at odds with United’s attacking tradition and heritage, with so many creative players unable to fully express themselves within his tactical straitjacket.
“I think that we have improved,” said Matic, who joined from Chelsea for £40million last summer.
“As you know, United last year were
sixth. The year before that, fifth. So we improved – we’re second. “The only team who is better than us this year is Manchester City. Obviously, they play amazing football. “But we’re second and we’re in the Champions League next year, which is the most important thing. “When you win the trophy it’s different and you feel better, but as I said, the most important thing is that we can look in the mirror and know we gave our best – this is the most important thing.
“I feel the team sad after the game – we was know we deserved more – but this is football.
“This was a final, everything can happen, so we have to be focused on the next challenge.
“We played good football, but Chelsea have players who can punish every mistake, like Hazard did. So we have to accept it, see where we can improve and next year try and win some more trophies.”