New Salamis manager George Georgiou toasted a historic day for his side and the whole Cypriot community, as they lifted their first FA Sunday Cup with victory over Barnes on Sunday.
Georgiou’s side won 4-3 on penalties at Selhurst Park after the game finished level at 1-1, with Mark Gallagher opening the scoring for Barnes in the first half before substitute Harrison Georgiou equalised.
And after Barnes' Jordan Willis saw red with 15 minutes to play, a gruelling period of extra time went by without incident, setting the stage for New Salamis stopper Joe Wright to be the hero for his side.
Barnes 1-1 New Salamis
New Salamis won 4-3 on penalties
The FA Sunday Cup Final
Sunday 17 April 2016
Selhurst Park
By Sam Tobin
He saved twice in the shootout, latterly from Rob Sheridan, to prompt wild celebrations from the hundreds of New Salamis fans in attendance – and it was to them that George Georgiou dedicated the victory.
“For this team, the whole family of Salamina – as you can see today with the supporters – is a driving force to win this prestigious competition,” he said.
“We were so desperate to win, and it is also a great stepping stone for our community.
“In all walks of life; they have come from Australia, to France and Greece and Cyprus, so for me this is the greatest achievement of all time for the club.
“Hopefully we can push it forward. Because of the publicity there are kids that are interested and want to play, and we will strive to be as good as what we have achieved.”
Meanwhile, Barnes manager Adam Willis admitted that despite the disappointing result he was impressed with the resilience of his side after going down to ten men.
He said: “We are proud with how we had seen the game out with ten men and took it to penalties.
“Maybe could have nicked it in extra time, but that is football, when you go to penalties it is a lottery and anyone can win it.
“If you play 60 minutes with ten men, it is always going to be uphill. Obviously, players got tired, maybe it is the same with the penalties because the ones we missed are the ones that are normally quite reliable.
“But like I said that is how penalties go. Somebody has got to be a loser, someone has got to miss.
“It is an achievement just to get to the final for the second time in four seasons, so hopefully we will come back stronger next year.”
