Goalkeeper is shoot-out hero as Cottesmore lift Beacon Hill Cup

FOOTBALL was welcomed back as the Everards Leicestershire Senior League returned with the Beacon Hill Cup Final between Cottesmore Amateurs and Hathern, which saw the Pasture Lane side fall agonisingly short in their attempt to retain the trophy.

The final was staged at Barrow Town and the full house were treated to a final that was every bit as good as it looked on paper, played at a high tempo, that was initially bossed by Cottesmore Amateurs.

Colton Cropper gave them an early lead when he hit a free kick low into the bottom right hand corner off the post in the sixth minute.

Hathern fought back and turned the match around when Liam Walton equalised on the half hour with a shot from out wide and then put Hathern in front four minutes later when he tapped in a pass across goal from Liam Golding.

Had Hathern managed to add a third before the break, it may have been a very different story. Instead, Cottesmore went in at half-time trailing but still in with a shout.

The second half flowed as both sides had chances, perhaps becoming more attritional as the contest entered the later stages.

But as the half wore on, it was Cottesmore who found that little bit extra and Harry Stannard netted the equaliser six minutes from time at point-blank range to send the tie to penalties.

The Cottesmore keeper’s heroics, saving three penalties, ensured that it was the Rutland side that took the spoils, leaving Hathern to rue and wonder what might have been.