Shoot-out ends Tadcaster's hopes for the cup

On Tuesday night Farsley Celtic were crowned West Riding County Cup Champions winning 4-2 on penalties.

Here's the match report from Jay Taylor

On Tuesday night Farsley Celtic were crowned West Riding County Cup Champions winning 4-2 on penalties.

Coincidentally the goal that Farsley scored in regulation time was also from the penalty spot.

Richard Marshall was thought to of been clipped by Carl Stewart and Marshall stepped up himself to put Celtic one goal to the good.

Nevertheless Stewart more than made up for his alleged offence by drawing Taddy level seven minutes later.

Conor Sellars’ driven cross-field pass was chested on the run and exquisitely sent into the back of the net by Stewart.

Both sides gave it their all to score a winner in the second half but failed to do so which saw the Final decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Tom Corner was the first man to miss his spot-kick blasting off the crossbar before Farsley’s Richard Marshall, who scored the penalty in normal time, went one worse than Corner blasting way over the mark.

With the scores at 2-3 to Celtic, Josh Grant saw his weak penalty comfortably saved by Goalkeeper of the Year Graeme McKibbin which allowed Paul Walker to be the match winner for Farsley.

The match was a fantastic advert for Non-League Football in front of a terrific 853 attendance at the i2i stadium.

Taddy boss Billy Miller welcomed Jono Greening, Carl Stewart and Josh Grant back into the starting eleven with Michael Ingham back in the squad for the first time since suffering a serious foot injury back in October.

It was somewhat strange having a Cup Final at the i2i stadium, it just felt like a home game, and home advantage almost told inside five minutes when Taddy had the ball in the back of the net.

Carl Stewart’s bobbling volley was parried and fumbled by Celtic stopper McKibbin allowing Rob Youhill to follow up with a tap-in, only for the linesman to raise his flag for offside.

The noisy ‘home fans’ were enjoying what they were seeing in the opening ten minutes as Rob Youhill threatened with his pace in behind again.

Josh Grant made a fine tackle to thwart Lewis Nightingale inside the penalty area before Grant drove a superb through ball for Youhill to latch onto.

The speedy winger, who was actually playing down the middle in the first half, went for an audacious outside of the foot effort which nestled into the side-netting.

It was a fast and frenetic opening to the final as John Deacey’s Celtic side enjoyed long spells of possession with Pete Davidson and Ross Daly spraying it from side-to-side.

Farsley still have it all to play for this season as the league title looks like being a two-horse race between themselves and Lancaster City.

They soon got into their rhythm in this encounter though with Ross Daly kneeing up and arrowing an impressive volley off the crossbar. And this was all before ten minutes was on the clock.

The chances were free-flowing at both ends as Richard Marshall’s in-direct free-kick was fired off the line by Tom Corner before a spiralling goal kick from Chandler Hallwood set Carl Stewart away at the other end but the lively forward lobbed narrowly wide.

Premier League referee Bobby Madley was the man in the middle and he soon became very unpopular with the Tadcaster fans as he controversially pointed to the penalty spot on 23 minutes.

Carl Stewart was adjudged to have gone through the back of Marshall but without any real appeal from Celtic, Madley was adamant it was a penalty kick.

Richard Marshall picked the ball up and struck powerfully past Chandler Hallwood in the Taddy goal to put Farsley in front.

Gregg Anderson and Josh Barrett were doing a good job of marshalling the many threats that Farsley have however, experienced striker Lamin Colley was looking dangerous and was denied twice in quick succession by Hallwood.

The first save out of the two was a strong left-hand down low to his left, and this proved to be very important when Tadcaster equalised just after the half hour mark.

Following some nice one touch interplay, Conor Sellars fizzed a delightful diagonal ball to Carl Stewart who magnificently controlled with his chest on the run and sent an exquisite half-volley into the roof of the net leaving McKibbin with no chance whatsoever.

Taddy’s number 10 was having a superb game constantly being a threat with his eye for goal as well as continuing to track back down the right-hand side time and time again.

Half-Time: Tadcaster Albion 1-1 Farsley Celtic

As the chilly spring wind picked up, Taddy started the second forty five just like the first, very lively and looking to force the issue early on.

Tom Corner came incredibly close to nudging the Brewers ahead when he prodded Jordan Armstrong’s cross inches wide of the left-hand upright.

With less than five minutes gone in the half Albion created another good chance at goal.

Conor Sellars’ work-rate is unbelievable each and every game and this was no different as his fierce pressing saw him win the ball back and play Stewart through on goal but his strike bounced off target also.

Stewart’s willingness to run in behind continued to be a problem for Farsley as the forward superbly controlled the ball down an inside left position before firing agonisingly wide once again.

I’m certain that Farsley would have expected a fiery start from Miller’s men and they did well to exit the spell without conceding at least one more goal.

As the contest entered the final quarter, Taddy opted to drop deeper surrendering the vast majority of possession to Farsley making it incredibly tight and tough for them.

It was certainly a plan that worked as Farsley got very little change out of the Brewers who were solid at the back.

The tactic almost paid off perfectly for Taddy after going close on the counter attack.

Josh Grant, who was having a good game at left-back, won the ball back, drove into midfield and played it forward for the sprinting substitute Carlos Djalo.

The Portuguese attacker carried the ball into Farsley’s half before caressing a superb ball with the outside of his boot in behind to Tom Corner.

Corner’s first touch was good, the crowd screamed in anticipation but just as the top scorer pulled the trigger one v one with McKibbin, Nathan Turner recovered with an outstanding goal-saving tackle.

The last chance of the match fell to Celtic in the final minute as substitute Jordan Deacey jinked, ducked, dived, dodged his way beyond two yellow shirts and into the penalty area before seeing his strike well stopped by Hallwood.

So after 90 minutes the two sides could not be separated and the West Riding County Cup was to be decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Good friends they may be, but they were opponents on Tuesday night, Lewis Nightingale and Conor Sellars stepped up first and both dispatched their spot-kicks confidently.

Jordan Deacey, who must have still been kicking himself about missing that late chance, kept his cool and stroked into the back of the net.

Tom Corner was the first player to miss as he saw his power blaster smash off the crossbar.

Corner would have felt better a few seconds later though as Richard Marshall hammered way over the target.

The experienced Jono Greening made it 2-2 with a cool as you like penalty followed closely by Farsley captain Aaron Hardy who made no mistake.

Josh Grant opened the door for Celtic as the defender saw his tame penalty denied by McKibbin.

Substitute Paul Walker had the chance to be the hero and this he was as he tucked away the winning penalty which saw Farsley Celtic win 4-2 on penalties and lift the West Riding County Cup Trophy.

Full-Time: Tadcaster Albion 1-1 Farsley Celtic (Penalties: 2-4) 

All in all it was a thoroughly entertaining encounter with both sides giving it their all in front of a tremendous atmosphere at the i2i stadium.