Niton Reserves won the Junior B Cup by beating Ventnor A on penalties in front of 250 spectators at the Peter Henry Ground on Tuesday evening.
There was very little to choose between the 2 South Wight sides over 90 minutes of feisty, full-blooded full-time play.
Playing up the slope, Ventnor opened the scoring in the 28th minute through Matt Ellis, who headed home from close range after Niton keeper Jack Shepherd had fisted a freekick on to the crossbar (1-0).
Ollie McCloughlin then equalised for Niton 5 minutes from half time after besting Ventnor keeper Cooper in a 1-on-1 situation (1-1).
Niton were unlucky not to have won the game in the 2nd half when Tony Potts had an effort cleared off the goal line.
Full time: Ventnor A 1-1 Niton Reserves
In the penalty shootout, Tom Brownrigg, Ollie McCloughlin and captain Adam Reuben all dispatched their penalties for Niton without mishap. Ed Brotherton then had his penalty saved – his first ever spot kick failure.
Ventnor missed their 1st and 5th penalties. Ray Richardson stepped up to score the winning penalty for Niton.
Penalties: Ventnor A 3-4 Niton Reserves
Ventnor A: Cooper, Croad, Baxter, Page, Mulholland, Squires, Brown, Ellis, J. Kennett, Dale, H. Kennett Subs: Foster, Creighton, Morris
Niton Reserves: Shepherd, Morris, Dickson, Evans, McCoughlin, McDowall, Potts, Reuben, Brownrigg, Richardson, Fairman Subs: Woolcock, Brotherton, Mills
Man-of-the-match: Ben Cooper (Ventnor)
After the game, Craig Ross said on behalf of Niton:
“For a derby game, it was a cracking battle between 2 evenly matched sides.
“Niton missed out on penalties 3 years ago, so maybe we were due one.
“But full credit to Ventnor for an entertaining battle royale.”
Ventnor’s Mark Mulholland commented:
“It was a close game that could have gone either way.
“We played really well, and I was gutted to lose on penalties.”
PHOTOS:
Well done NITON