Liverpool County Premier League edge NLS Semi-Final contest.
Liverpool County Premier League 3-2 Yorkshire Old Boys League
The FA National League System Cup
Semi-Final
Saturday 17 April 2010
Liverpool County Premier League side overcame Semi-Final underdogs Yorkshire Old Boys League after an extraordinary encounter in Merseyside.
Two crucial goal-line decisions, two costly goalkeeping errors and a deflected winner meant this was a remarkable game that both sides will have felt they might have won.
But it is Liverpool who now face a May showdown with The Final’s hosts, Guernsey County League, with the incentive of representing England in the UEFA Regions Cup awaiting the victors.
The win came courtesy of Stephen Flynn's 82nd-minute strike, after two goals from midfielder Joey Roberts – who turned in a Man-of-the-Match performance – cancelled out the Yorkshire side’s opener.
Liverpool started the game brightly and had the better of the opening exchanges, only for the Old Boys to open the scoring – against the run of play – thanks to the first of the game’s two controversial goals.
A free-kick in the 18th minute struck Liverpool’s crossbar, and after the ball bounced down on the goal-line, the Assistant Referee ruled that the ball had crossed the line.
The goal took the wind out of Liverpool’s sails, and the now buoyant Old Boys, the tournament’s surprise package, looked increasingly comfortable as the half wore on.
But goals either side of half time – which both owed a lot to fortune – turned the tie back in Liverpool’s favour.
The equaliser came just a minute before the break, after a speculative long-range effort from Liverpool’s star-man Joey Roberts found its way under the Old Boy’s keeper’s body.
A revitalised Liverpool started the second half in the ascendency, and in the 48th minute, they had the lead – in the most unlikely of circumstances. In a virtual mirror image of the Old Boys’ opener, a Roberts free-kick struck the bar and the ball was again judged to have crossed the line.
After an already topsy-turvy encounter, the game’s second goalkeeping error was to cost Liverpool the lead just ten minutes later. Liverpool’s keeper let a crossed corner slip through his grasp – for what should have been a routine catch – and the Old Boys netted as the ball broke free.
But with just eight minutes left on the clock, Liverpool struck the final decisive blow. Playing a short corner to left-back Flynn, the defender’s strike at goal took a slight deflection on its way into the net.
Speaking after the game, a clearly-delighted Iain Munrow, Liverpool Country Premier League’s secretary said:
“This was the biggest occasion in our footballing lives, and the chance to represent England in Croatia if we can beat Guernsey is absolutely fantastic.
“To have two come off the crossbar made it a strange collection of goals, but we’ve earned the right to be in The Final, and we know it’s going to be tough game.”
