A second penalty shoot-out victory of the season took the Keys through to the semi-final of the knockout cup for Division Two sides. It came at the end of an entertaining game between well-matched sides which saw the home side go in front in the sixth minute through Eddie Cross who nodded into an empty net after Will Martinson lifted a shot over Barnetby’s goalkeeper Tom Tuplin from just inside the penalty area.

It wouldn’t be the only chance created by Crowle in the first half but despite having the better of possession the Keys didn’t add to their tally before half-time. The visitors, who inflicted Crowle’s last defeat when the sides met in October, weren’t at their best before the break and failed to stretch Aidan Wilkinson in the Crowle net.

That changed within seconds of the restart when Wilkinson turned a close-range effort over the crossbar, but there was little he could do to prevent an equalizer from the resulting corner; an unmarked Josh Softley guided a first time shot into the goal from the edge of the six-yard box at the front post. Wilkinson would go on to be the busier keeper and kept the sides level until the seventy-second minute when Joe Hare, who’d starred for Crowle’s Saturday side less than twenty-four hours earlier, lifted a cross from the left into the path of George Atkinson who had little trouble volleying home from three yards to put Barnetby two-one up.

The Keys hadn’t found as much space in opposition territory as they had before half-time, but they hadn’t given up on getting back into the game, and their persistence paid off in the last ten minutes of normal time. A switch of formation had taken Brandon McClurey from the centre of defence into midfield and his deep cross from the right wing found Cross at the far post with enough time to control the ball and squeeze a low shot, via a deflection, inside Tuplin’s near post.

The rules of the competition meant that a draw at full-time would go straight to penalties without the need for extra-time and both sides were considering their five takers when Softley won possession on the edge of Crowle’s penalty area and slid a shot past Wilkinson in the eighty-ninth minute. Barely had the visitors’ cheers died down when McClurey drove through a pair of defenders’ challenges and struck a shot past Tuplin’s right hand, bringing the scores level before the seven-minute spell of stoppage time. Half-chances at both ends came to nothing and the Keys, who reached the semi-final of the Challenge Cup by the same method, prepared for penalties.

Barnetby had the advantage from the first pair of kicks; Hare’s assured finish was followed by Cross’ shot against the crossbar, and the away side stayed in front until the fourth round when Wilkinson saved low to his left and Jack Martinson levelled the scores. With one kick each to go it was effectively sudden death and Tuplin breathed a sigh of relief when, after his own kick had been saved, Will Martinson lifted his penalty over the bar. Barnetby’s sixth went similarly high, leaving Keys’ captain Sam Shipman to round things off with Crowle’s fourth successful conversion.

Crowle Keys

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