Shoot-out kings West Pier win dramatic District FA Cup final

West Pier claimed a 4-3 penalty shoot-out win to defeat Seamer in the final of the FA District Cup, sponsored by Scholars Bar, at the Flamingo Land Stadium.
West PierWest Pier
West Pier

Seamer made the worst possible start to the shoot-out with Dean Craig's penalty being saved by Pier keeper Scott Wardman, then Martin Cooper stepped up to slot home Pier's first spot-kick.

Kris Tate levelled for Seamer, then Sean Exley made it 2-1, Danny Glendinning scored a second for Seamer, then sub Mark Oldroyd put Pier 3-2 ahead and skipper Gaz Lawton levelled for Seamer.

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Will Jenkinson then blazed his effort wide to give Seamer a chance of getting back into it, but player-boss Tommy Adams put his shot over the bar, leaving the way clear for Rich Tolliday, who was celebrating his birthday, to score the winning penalty for Pier and spark the celebrations for Andy Spivey's side.

Seamer FCSeamer FC
Seamer FC

A frantic start to the game saw both sides having early chances.

Cooper's shot in the 12th minute was saved superbly by Jordan Wood in the Seamer goal, and seven minutes later Wardman pulled off an amazing save when Danny Glendinning looked set to put Seamer in front.

Jenkinson and Jake Adams at the heart of the Pier defence both made vital tackles to maintain their side's clean sheet, while player-boss Tommy Adams was controlling the defence for the village club.

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Just before the half-hour mark another fine block from Jake Adams kept out a goalbound effort from Seamer.

The final 15 minutes of the half were rather uneventful, until the 45th minute, with Glendinning twisting and turning in the Pier area and about to shoot when ref Alan Rose blew his whistle for half-time, causing many laughs to echo around the main stand, both teams having been confused by some of the officials' decisions throughout the opening 45 minutes.

Four minutes into the second half Lawton's fine run and shot grazed the crossbar as Seamer went close.

A superb run from central midfield by Pier's Sam Garnett set up Tolliday only for him to blaze his shot wildly over, but he made up for this in the 54th minute, crossing for Exley to head Pier in front from close range, only seconds after the latter-s shot had been superbly saved by Seamer keeoer Wood.

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Wardman then pulled off another brilliant save to deny Glendinning's long range shot.

Seamer levelled in the 63rd minute, Glendinning breaking through and slotting past Wardman after Jenkinson failed to connect with the ball when attempting to clear.

Pier gloveman Wardman then pulled off another fine save to deny Lawton in the 71st minute, as the villagers piled on the pressure.

Seamer almost went in front on 81 minutes but Glendinning skewed his shot wide after fine work from Craig.

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Sub Steve Sheader made several superb interceptions to keep Seamer at bay as they piled on the pressure.

A clear backpass by a Seamer defender to Wood was missed by the officials in the closing moments, then a minute later a clear push on a Seamer man in the Pier area was waved away.

The drama continued into injury-time with Pier skipper Neil Thomas being shown the red card by Rose.

There was more controversy as Rose blew for full-time as Seamer were about to shoot on goal, as he did at half-time.

Speaking after the shoot-out win, Pier chief Spivey said: "I think we were below-par tonight, our best player was probably Sam Garnett."