St Ives Miss Out On Penalties
Hunts FA Senior Cup Final St Ives Town 1 Yaxley 1 AET (Yaxley win 6-5 on penalties) BARRY Albone was the unlucky man to miss the decisive penalty after a tense cup final at Jubilee Park, Huntingdon. St Ives joint-boss Jez Hall said he felt his side had pl
Hunts FA Senior Cup Final
St Ives Town 1 Yaxley 1 AET (Yaxley win 6-5 on penalties)
BARRY Albone was the unlucky man to miss the decisive penalty after a tense cup final at Jubilee Park, Huntingdon.
St Ives joint-boss Jez Hall said he felt his side had played below-par but hinted he felt Yaxley had been hoping for the penalty-shoot-out lottery.
Battle-weary St Ives, playing their 63rd game of the season took the lead in the dying seconds of the first half when Will Fordham powered in a Liam Kennett corner.
The playing surface had dried out quickly and at times the ball bounced around like a ball in a pinball machine but Yaxley grabbed an equaliser after four minutes of the second period through Sam Makansi, who chipped goalkeeper Rob Mackney.
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St Ives had a good penalty appeal waved away minutes from the end but in truth neither side looked likely to break the stalemate.
Both sides had opportunities to win the contest in the second period of extra time. The holders went closest when Dan Newman's effort from distance rebounded to safety off the Yaxley crossbar.
In the penalty contest Jason King's miss handed the Cuckoos the initiative but a miss by Yaxley man Ricky Hailstone allowed Kennett to level.
Yaxley's Mark Paul missed his kick but so did Jamie Blackwell and when Lee Blewett missed for Yaxley in sudden death Newman missed another opportunity to win it for Town.
In the end it was the unlucky Albone who saw his effort turned away by the impressive John Feetham in the Yaxley goal.
Hall said: "We really played well below par for most of the game and Yaxley looked to have one eye on a shoot out from mid-way through the second half.
"I also think we had two big decisions go against us - in particular a penalty claim minutes from normal time."
The dejection on the St Ives faces was in stark contrast to the scenes at Westwood Road on Saturday as they secured their best-ever league finish with a 2-1 win over high flying Blackstones.
Max Francis-Johnson latched on to a Scott Fielding cross just before the break and after Blackstones had equalised from the spot, Francis-Johnson threaded a cross to Fielding to wrap up the season in fine style.
