Bishop Grosseteste University beat the University of Lincoln on penalties at Sincil Bank on Thursday night to take home the 2018 Catherdral Cup and level the series between the two rivals.
Penalties were needed to split the two sides after the game ended 2-2 with goals from James, Buckthorpe, Lyons and Ward not enough to separate the two in regular time.
Keeper Jack Gibbons was the hero for BGU as he slotted home the vital penalty to overcome The University of Lincoln 4-3 in the shoot-out.
The clash started in a nervous fashion with both teams struggling to keep the ball in play in the opening minutes. However, as the players grew into the game BGU looked to dominate possession as captain Callum Brown cleared up Lincoln’s attempted breaks.
Although looking the more comfortable in the early minutes BGU struggled to create any meaningful chances in the game until Sean James went one on one with the keeper. The striker elected to try and lob the keeper from the edge of the area but it was read perfectly by Rob Ellis in the Lincoln goal who saved the effort comfortably.
Shouts of “Settle down” from the University of Lincoln bench seemed to work as Lincoln started look much more comfortable on the ball after the ten-minute mark. This period of possession quickly led to a chance with Harry Ward chipping the ball just over the bar after being sent through in the 6th minute.
Lincoln were made to rue this missed chance after 20 minutes when George Tuck gave away a penalty after a sloppy foul just inside the area. Shaking off his previous miss, Sean James stepped up and coolly slotted the ball to the keepers left, wheeling away to celebrate in front the BGU dominated Sincil Bank crowd.
After the BGU opener the game started to drift toward half time without incident. The game had started to turn scrappy with both teams getting two yellows cards a piece. Both teams did manage to win a few free kicks in dangerous areas as the constant petty fouling continued but failed to put threatening balls into the box to carve any clear chances as the first half ended 1-0 to BGU.
As the second half started to take shape, Lincoln continued to dominate the ball, however BGU skipper Brown kept his side compact at the back restricting Lincoln to a speculative effort from Oliver Lawrence.
That was until the 61st minute where Lincoln sprung into life. After an intelligent bit of play on the by-line, Lincolns’ Dom Lyons squared a ball into the box. The ball fell to right back Oliver Lawrence who hit a low driven shot which was well saved by the Gibbons in the BGU net.
This pressure continued until the 69th minute when Lyons’, who had been working hard all night, was again found behind the BGU back four after a smart run, even if there was a slight question of offside, to level the game at 1-1.
Lincoln weren’t level for long, as they failed to clear a corner in the 79th minute. Buckthorpe was the quickest to react after the ball struck the post and he calmly put the ball past the dispairing keeper. BGU lead 2-1 with just over ten minutes to go.
Just like the rest of the night Lincoln dominated the ball as they looked to reply but were still struggling to create clear opportunities. That was until the 82nd minute when Matt Reynolds was brought down just inside the box for the second penalty of the game. Oliver Lawrence stepped up and hit the top corner of the BGU net levelling things up for the Swans.
In the 87th minute Ward almost doubled his goal tally as he hit the bar after a smart bit of play got him one and one with the keeper. Laughton came close again in the 90th minute when he was first to react after a hard Harry Ward shot but the keeper recovered well and made a vital block.
Lincoln were now comfortably on top as the game ticked toward penalties. Ed Sheen and Alfie Loughton both had great opportunities to win the game for Lincoln late on but both shot straight at the keeper. Lincoln were left ruing their missed chances as the match ended 2-2.
The game was set to be decided with penalties in front of the Stacey West Stand. The first to step up was Mikey Pywell for the University of Lincoln who calmly slotted the ball to the keepers left. James Holdsworth failed to level the scoring as Ellis made a good save to his left. Lincoln couldn’t take advantage however as they missed their next two spot kicks with Nathaniel D’Rosario smashing his penalty to the keepers left in between, levelling the spot kicks 1-1. Sean James then put BGU ahead after Gibbons made a good save to deny Connor Walker. Both teams then confidently scored the next two penalties, leaving the score at 3-3.
Oliver Rawlings stepped up to take his penalty to win the match for BGU. He blazed the ball over the bar leaving the Lincoln fans crazy with excitement. However, Ed Sheen let BGU off the hook as he followed suit with hitting his effort over the bar. The second chance to win was given to Jack Gibbons the BGU goalkeeper and with a stutter in his run up he sent the Lincoln keeper the wrong way and calmly scored the winning penalty.
Bishops Grosseteste University had therefore regained the Cathedral Cup after a 4-3 win on penalties thanks to heroic goalkeeper, Gibbons.
As the University of Lincoln fans started to leave the stadium the BGU team lifted the Cathedral Cup in front of their fans who had been loud all evening. BGU had levelled the Cathedral Cup series at two wins each.