SALFORD LEAGUE UNDER NINE CUP FINAL
SOUTH MANCHESTER TIGERS 0 BEECHFIELD 0 (South Manchester won on penalties)

South Manchester Tigers under-nine’s secured the Salford League Cup following a nail-biting penalty shoot-out victory over Beechfield.

South fielded a full-strength team who produced a terrific performance all round. There was drama during the warm-up as goalkeeper Natan Turner suffered a broken wrist saving a shot from a fellow teammate. Without wanting to miss out on the moment, the youngster showed incredible bravery and opted to play on despite the pain for 15 minutes before being whisked off to hospital.

Luckily for him, play in the first half was very much dominated by South and he was only called into action a couple of time, which he predominantly cleared with his feet before handling the ball and realising something more serious was wrong.

South created a number of chances but they could not break Beechfield Storm down despite an impressive first-half performance, where they played with great cohesion and they went into the half-time break feeling upbeat.

The second half again saw South controlling the run of play, although Beechfield threatened several times.

South were in the ascendency, coming up against a brick wall of resistance in the shape of an inspired Beechfield goalkeeper.

As time ticked on parents and management on the sidelines became more and more anxious, both sides desperate to score, and South even hitting the crossbar with seconds remaining, but it wasn’t to be as the final moved into penalties.

Having performed brilliantly in defence, alongside Benji Winters, Alfie Thorpe took the gloves for the shoot-out.

Beechfield’s first penalty flew past Thorpe, while South missed their first attempt. With the tension mounting, the next three Beechfield penalties, two were saved by Thorpe while one missed the target.

South then scored their next three kicks, converted by Toby Schweiger, Zack Stewart and Benji Winters to spark scenes of wild celebration in the South ranks.

Both teams were presented with medals by a League representative and a very gracious Beechfield team applauded South as they lifted the Cup.

South: Natan Turner, Benji Winters, Alfie Thorpe, Stan Milroy, Zack Stewart, Toby Schweiger, Gabe Davies, Marcus Royle, Kit Sanders and Joshua Stonefield