Leek pay the penalty as Stone make history by reaching

Leek Town ....................... Stone Old Alleynians ......

(Stone win 8-7 on penalties) 1 1

LEEK Town’s hopes of a promotion and cup double were ended as they were dumped out of the Staffordshire Senior Cup at the semi-final stage by Midland League side Stone Old Alleynians.

The Old Boys made history by reaching the final for the first time, beating the Blues 8-7 in a dramatic penalty shootout at Harrison Park after the game ended 1-1.

Leek took a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the second half but Stone deservedly equalised eight minutes later.

With the scores level after 90 minutes, it was straight to penalties. With both teams missing a penalty each, it came down to sudden death and it was the Old Boys who were celebrating when the last Leek penalty rebounded back off the crossbar, sending Alleynians through to this prestigious final.

The game kicked off with both teams content to pass the ball around.

The hosts seemed happy to play the ball around the Alleynians box without making any real inroads.

The visitors came close to taking the lead in the

15th minute, when playermanager, Luke Askey hit the Leek crossbar with a header from a corner.

The hosts responded and on 24 minutes, visiting keeper, Adam Alcock made a comfortable save from a Leek corner.

Leek started to have the majority of the possession and after half an hour, Alcock had to race quickly off his line to save at the feet of Rob Stevenson.

Ten minutes later, from a Leek corner, there was a scramble in the Alleynians’ box which ended with the Leek player scooping the ball over from two yards, when it looked easier to score.

Just before half time, Alleynians could have taken the lead after Sam Bradbury split the home defence with

a superb pass down the right wing to Sam Wilson.

From the cross, Jack Tomlinson spectacularly volleyed the ball first time, but unfortunately for the visitors, it flew well over the bar.

After the interval, it was Leek who struck first when a low cross from a freekick was turned into the Alleynians net from close range by Josh Ryder.

The Old Boys hit back with Dave Ablewhite getting a shot on target from outside the Leek box, but it lacked the power to beat Sam Booth, the Leek goalkeeper.

In the 58th minute however, Ablewhite was right on the spot as he sidefooted the ball into the Leek net when Alleynians skipper Matt Thomas saw his shot was blocked after a corner.

Leek now dominated possession as they went looking for the winner.

The Old Boys were strong in defence and Leek were forced to keep playing the ball around the Alleynians penalty area without making too much headway.

Young full-back Joe Baxter put in a great tackle to prevent a Leek chance but then Stone could have won it in normal time when Leek managed to clear the ball out after a big melee in their penalty area, just before the final whistle.

Seconds before the 90 minutes were up, Leek substituted their goalkeeper, Sam Booth and brought on first team regular Danny Roberts for the anticipated shootout in a hope of gaining an advantage.

Alleynians’ specialist penalty taker Dave

Ablewhite missed the very first penalty – his first miss this season.

Old Boys’ keeper Adam Alcock evened things up by saving Leek’s second spot kick.

Then both teams struck home all their penalties until Leek’s Will Saxon hit his against the crossbar to give the Old Boys a famous victory.