Angel soar to 4-1 County Cup final win against rivals Trafalgar

After a frenetic opening few minutes, Angel skipper Lloyd Henderson opened the scoring with a stunning low drive from the edge of the penalty area, the central midfielder running onto the ball after fine work down the right from Jackson Jowett.

Traf tried to gain a foothold in the game after this, Angel being forced to shuffle their defence with Mikey Pickering going off and George Walmsley on as a sub shortly after their goal, Martin Cooper moving from the left of midfield to right-back and Walmsley playing on the left flank.

Lewis Taylor had a shot deflected wide by Gaz Thomas and Joe Wright also kept out another long-range strike with a low save to his left.

Angel doubled their lead eight minutes before the break, defender Gaz Thomas forcing the ball home from close range after a Jowett free-kick from the right flank was not cleared.

A stunning double save from point-blank range by keeper Ben Rowe in the 42nd minute kept Traf in the match.

Angel soared into a 3-0 lead two minutes into the second half, sub Walmsley finishing adeptly past Rowe after another fine move led by winger Jowett.

Two minutes later more trickery from Jowett saw Martin Cooper fire over the crossbar.

The win was effectively sealed just after the hour mark as sub Danny Collins smashed the ball home from close-range.

Trafalgar reduced the arrears five minutes later with a well-taken low driven shot from sub Billy Logan, but Angel soon had chance to restore their four-goal advantage when Walmsley was brought down in the penalty area.

Cooper stepped up to take the spot-kick but his effort was saved by Rowe, but Angel had done more than enough to seal the win, neither side adding any further goals in a scrappy final 20 minutes as Angel secured the silverware at a sun-soaked Flamingo Land Stadium.

In an excellent all-round team effort by the victors, Jowett and Henderson were the leading lights for Dan Jones' side, while Mikey Barker's Traf battled hard throughout but never fully recovered from conceding the early goal.

An excellent amount of £400 was raised for the charity Oddballs thanks to gate receipts.

Angel: Wright, Pickering, G Thomas, Gravestock, Holden, Anderson, L Henderson, Gallagher, Cooper, N Thomas, Jowett. Subs (all used): Scarborough, Walmsley, Marston, Mason, Collins.

Trafalgar: Rowe, Vernon, Aziz, Avison, Rose, Patterson, Taylor, Garnett, Exley, Ramm, Pickard. Subs (all used): Price, Greenwood, Fergus, MaCauley, Logan.