Black Swan Town 3-4 Elmore 2nds - Devon Intermediate Cup Final
There was a good crowd of over one hundred and fifty partisan fans in the crowd looking forward to a good match.
The match is the first to be played on the pitch since Sundays Supplementary final which left it in a fairly cut up state, but counties groundsman Roger has worked hard on it to give us a good pitch which is hard down the middle but softer on the wings.
The referee blew his whistle and got the match started and the first real chance fell to the Swans after two minutes, only for Elmore’s keeper Darren Parsons to clear the ball down the field.
Elmore’s first opportunity fell to them in the sixth minute when they broke down the field with the ball falling to Lloyd White who dribbles the ball goal ward’s and very quickly Swans keeper Simon Thorne is off his line to save at White’s feet.
A minute later Elmore win a free kick about thirty yards out taken by the excellent attacking full back Jacob Brookes who floated a dangerous cross into the Swans penalty box only to be met by defender Billy Binyon who clears.
Black Swan go on the attack and the ball is played to Lance Clarke inside the area he collected the ball and as he was preparing to shoot is brought down from behind and the ref awards a penalty.
Jackson Malony places the ball on the spot he runs up and confidently strokes the ball past Parsons to give the Swans the lead on fourteen minutes.
A minute later they break through the Elmore defence and attacker Ben Yelland shoots, keeper Parsons, tips the ball over the bar from the corner Swans grabbed their second when Ben Smith confidently heads home.
Even though they were two goals adrift Elmore were still in the match and were having greater passion but just cant find the killer ball which will get them back into the match.
On thirty-seven minutes, Elmore attack down the right on a counter attack and Will Pinnick shoots only for it to go wide.
As we enter added time The Swans have a chance as they win a free kick, the ball is crossed in and is met by Gray who scores their third to give them a comfortable lead.
Half time sees the Swans leading by three goals to nil all, for Elmore to try and comeback in the second half.
The second half kicked off and the first ten minutes was a case of probing and defending, which culminates in Elmore getting their first when on the fifty-ninth minute when substitute, Harry Butler, finishes a fine series of passing to get Elmore on the scoresheet.
Elmore are buoyed by the goal and looking very dangerous and this shows minutes later when Jacob Harte hits a cracking shot which goes just wide.
Harte again is looking extremely dangerous and his cross is parried out only to be headed in by Brookes.
Game well and truly on with Elmore laying siege to the Swans goal and the equaliser for Elmore came in the eighty-seventh minute when Elmore win a penalty Will Pinnick takes charge and spots the ball he shoots well over but the ref has ordered a retake much to the Swans annoyance and disbelief due to the keeper coming well off his line Pinnick replaces the ball and takes the penalty shooting into the top right hand corner.
The was to be a minimum of four added minutes a winner came three minutes into it when the superb Callum Sewell fires home sparking great scenes on and off the park. With time running out the Swans had one last chance Maloney shoots wide and with that the final chance of the game.
On the final whistle there were great scenes of jubilation from Elmore and scenes of utter despair from the Black Swans players.
The sponsor’s man of the match went to the very deserving Elmore full back Jacob Brookes.
The next game at Coach Road will be the Wotton Printers Devon U16 Boys County Cup Final – kicking off at 7:15pm with gates open at 6pm.
Don’t forget you can watch the whole game back by clicking the link below
black swan town 3 - 4 elmore 2nds match
A full photo album of the game will be available very soon on our Facebook Page