The definitive goal arrived
after 100 minutes of entertaining action, with Butcher racing onto
Ross Lamb's pass as three Cornard players broke into the
Chelmsford penalty area in the fourth minute of added time at the
end of extra time. Goalkeeper Lewis Lockyer advanced off of his
goal-line, but could do nothing to prevent the substitute slotting
his shot low into the bottom left-hand corner.
"I knew we could score," United boss Jamie LePage
revealed, despite the late conclusion to proceedings. "I
thought we dominated after half-time, when I changed the formation
and introduced a couple of substitutes. When you haven't scored,
you do wonder whether it will come, because football's a funny old
game."
It had been Chelmsford that had made the early running, with Sam
Mead nodding a William Baxter free-kick into Fred Howe's gloves.
There was no quarter given by either club, and that was proved
when Lamb rounded Lockyer, only for Nat Collier to race back and
block the Cornard player's shot. Tommy Hill also went close,
smashing Liam Whittaker's cross into the side-netting.
With Lockyer requiring treatment after colliding with a post, Ryan
Henshaw's lob onto the roof of the net carried more concern than
usual, but Chelmsford deservedly edged in front on the half-hour
mark. Mead was brought down as he moved into the penalty area, and
Joe Rampling stepped up to fire the penalty into the net.
Cornard increased the pressure in the second period and Dan
Johnson should have netted when Whittaker cut the ball back behind
the goalkeeper. He mis-kicked with an open goal gaping. Henshaw
then prodded Whittaker's free-kick past Lockyer, only for a
Chelmsford defender to clear on the goal-line. When the same
player headed a Whittaker corner wide, it seemed that it would not
be United's day.
With just ten minutes left on the clock, the manager was left
beaming when his son, T.J. LePage, netted the equaliser. Lining up
a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area, the midfielder curled
the ball delightfully into the top left-hand corner. "I've
got to be proud of that one," his father declared.
A frantic conclusion to the regular eighty minutes saw Howe turn
Rampling's low shot around the post and Lee Monk head wide for
Chelmsford, whilst Lockyer claimed Lamb's fierce drive at the
other end.
Joe McArdle was denied by Howe in the opening period of an
additional twenty minutes, and that remained the only chance until
Butcher's late intervention. There was still time for Sam Fairhall
to cause chaos in the Cornard penalty area, but the defence
scrambled the ball clear when Howe misjudged the flight of a high
ball and United celebrated their second Cup final success in a
week.
"We played on Wednesday in a League Cup final and won that on
penalties," LePage revealed. "We even made substitutions
at the end to bring on our penalty-takers, so we were expecting a
tough game! That would've been a cruel way to decide this match,
though."
"It was a brilliant final, and credit is due to both teams.
It was our ambition to win a County Cup, and now we have done that
- hopefully we can win the Under 16s next year as well! We're also
sitting top in the League, but we will have two more tough matches
against Chelmsford now as we look to win that," he concluded.
Chelmsford City: Lewis Lockyer, Rob Clarke, Jack Sterland, Sam
Mead, Jamie Dicks, Benji Bailey, Sam Fairhall, Lee Monk, Joe
Rampling, Nat Collier, William Baxter. Substitutes (rotating):
Kiren Foster, Charlie Tiplady, Joe McArdle, Deiter Horsnell, Mike
Anderson.
Cornard United: Fred Howe, Sam Nunn, Matt Mills, Matty Cripps,
Thomas Whitehead, Sean Bartlett, Ross Lamb, Tommy Hill, Dan
Johnson, Liam Whittaker, Ryan Henshaw. Substitutes (rotating):
Tommy LePage, Anthony Joyce, Dean Scrivener, Eddy Butcher.
.jpg)
