MARSHAL TYRES sponsored Pocklington Town 2nds took on Middleton Rovers in the East Riding Junior Country cup 1/4 final looking to progress a step closer to a repeat of their cup final appearance of last season but deprived of several regulars and late call offs, suffered the heartbreak of a penalty shoot out defeat after 120 minutes of gritty battling football on a heavy pitch.

 

Pock made a good start, led by the driving on of Chris Murray in central midfield and took the lead on 20 minutes when James Saltmer exchanged a one-two pass with David O'Connor and finished with a well placed shot from the edge of the area. Middleton came back into things and Town keeper Carl Silburn showed good hands to tip the shot onto the bar and away to safety but when the home side worked a short corner routine on 35 minutes, the cross was met by an unchallenged header inside the 6 yard box to leave things level at the break.

 

With the strong wind making it difficult for either side to play a passing game, Town edged the second half but without being able to regain the lead. This was in no small part down to some excellent goalkeeping from the Middleton keeper who made excellent saves from Connor Mathie and Nathan Hinds well struck efforts and with defences dominating, neither side was able to break the deadlock in the second half and the 30 minutes of extra time.

 

This meant the drama of a penalty shoot out and with James Saltmer missing the target and Nathan Hind seeing his effort well saved, Middleton scored all of their first four attempts to win it 4-2. Despite the frustration of going so close, Pock need to take the positives from this into the last four games of their season as they look to ensure that they don't get dragged into a relegation situation, starting with a home game against Hamilton Panthers this Saturday. Players meet at the club at 1pm please