The Beer's on Alex after South's cup final victory

Timperley continued to threaten, but South Manchester finished the tie strongly and threatened twice on the counter-attack in the final 15 minutes. They came close twice, most notably when Matt Torkington rattled the bar with five mins left on the clock.

The big pitch was taking its toll on both teams, but the workrate from both teams was nothing less than phenomenal from players aged 12 and 13 years.

The match looked destined for extra-time until, deep into injury time, a free-kick just inside the Timperley half was delivered into the box by Jason Cohen and the irrepressible Beer turned and clipped the ball past their keeper to send the South Manchester supporters into delirium and before captain Natasha Kingsley got collected the cup.

The teams still have to meet in the league next week to fight out promotion, so another humdinger is on the cards.

Dominic Darcy received the man-of-the-match award following a faultless defensive display.

South Manchester's Jonny Bloom told JC Sport: "There were great performances all-round - too many to mention. It was a squad win anyway so individuals don’t matter."