Scunthorpe United retained their Lincolnshire Senior County Cup as they dispatched of Cleethorpes Town in a penalty shootout following a nervy 3-3 draw.
Cleethorpes were arguably the better side throughout, but Scunthorpe were clinical on the night and managed to take the game to penalties.
Scunthorpe came into the game hoping to retain the title following last year’s victory and made 10 changes following Saturday’s victory. With only captain Michael Clunan keeping his place as The Iron continue to push for the National League North title.
Cleethorpes on the other hand are chasing the Northern Premier League East Division title and made just the one change as George Smith came in.
The Iron have had to play just the one game to get to this point after a bye in round one before Spalding United forfeited the semi-final tie.
First-half goal fest:
Cleethorpes came forward with the first chance of the game as the inexperienced Scunthorpe back line showed. Connor Smythe laid the ball off for Brad Abbott, but his shot was well blocked from 18 yards.
The owls threatened twice more in the next two minutes as Nicky Walker flashed a low corner narrowly wide of the far post before Connor O’Grady fired over from six yards out.
Cleethorpes continued to apply the pressure just short of the 15-minute mark as Smythe disposed Finn Abraham six-yards from goal but couldn’t quite find the net from a tight angle.
Despite the early pressure it was Scunthorpe who took the lead as Joe Starbuck crossed the ball in low from the right and Mark Beck was there to tap it home at the far post.
Cleethorpes quickly bounced back on the 20-minute mark as George Smith played a long ball in behind that was brought down brilliantly by Abbott who finished well one-on-one.
The game sparked to life as Scunthorpe quickly retook the lead through Mo Fadera, as he finished a bouncing ball from eight-yards out following a series of headers inside the penalty area.
Abraham was caught out again on 28 minutes as Josh Walker skipped into the penalty area and he made no mistake as he levelled the game up once again.
The half came to a quiet close as Cleethorpes were denied a penalty when O’Grady looked to be brought down. Before Luke Williams slid in to deny what looked to be a certain Cleethorpes goal.
More after the break:
The second-half got underway with a flurry of Scunthorpe changes: Kian Scales, Will Evans, Joe Rowley and Carlton Ubaezounu all entered the field.
A slightly slower start as Callum Foster fired over from close range on 54 minutes.
Walker danced down the left for Cleethorpes just beyond the hour mark as he took the ball beyond Andrew Boyce but his curling effort was well stopped.
Ubaezounu went straight up the end to spectacularly restore the lead for Scunthorpe just two minutes later as his curling effort found the far top left corner.
Cleethorpes equalised for the third time in the game as Scunthorpe failed to deal with a long ball that was headed down into the path of O’Grady who finished calmly with just over ten minutes remaining.
It was an end-to-end final ten minutes although neither side really had any clear-cut chances as the game headed for a penalty shootout to decide the winner.
Penalty shootout glory for Scunthorpe:
Cleethorpes were arguably the better side throughout however, it was Scunthorpe that clinched the trophy for the 23rd time in their history. Ubaezounu converted the winning penalty down the middle of front of the Scunthorpe fans after Cleethorpes failed to score a single spot-kick.