Pigeons Cup Final Winners!
The Pigeons tell us how their Noel Barton Cup Final played out...
A proper cup final battle for the Pigeons.
We went 0-1 down after 19 minutes, conceding from a free kick – we think it was Sam Harden’s man. From there, it was 50 minutes of pure hard graft, determination, and belief.
The breakthrough finally came when Ben Tomlinson was brought down in the box. Up stepped Charlie Manners, cool as ever, slotting home the penalty – just like he did earlier in the season against the same opposition.
Not long after, Charlie was sin-binned, leaving us down to 10 men for 10 minutes. The lads dug deep, held firm, and kept pushing right through to the 90.
Into extra time, the momentum was with us. We kept applying pressure, and it paid off when Ben Tomlinson fired us into the lead. Massive moment.
But the game had another twist, as FC 99 pulled it back to 2-2 in the second half of extra time. Soon after, Charlie Manners saw red, leaving us down to 10 again for the final 12 minutes. Another huge test.
The boys showed unbelievable character to battle through and take it to penalties.
And what a shootout it was:
Ben Tomlinson ✔️
Jamie Eden ✔️
Ryan McCourt ✔️
Ben Rafferty ✔️
Morley Gill ✔️
5 from 5. Ice cold.
One of theirs hit the post, sealing it 5-3 on penalties. An unbelievable show of grit, resilience, and togetherness from every single lad.
Huge thank you to everyone who came out to support us – it means everything.
Big thanks to the gaffers Jamie Harden (Manager), James Stanley (Assistant), Wade Manners (Set Piece Coach), and Matt Wells (Goalkeeper Coach).
UP THE PIGEONS 🐦
Now let’s go and complete the invincible season.
