- Lancashire FA Youth Cup Report | Accrington 5 Latics 5
- Sam Tickle saves Accrington penalty as Latics net all five in shootout.
- Topsy-turvy cup game sees Accy goalkeeper send the tie to penalties.
Accrington Stanley 5
McKinlay 25'
Ridge 26, 73'
Doherty 86'
Isherwood 90+3'
Wigan Athletic 5
Aasgaard 51'
McGurk 56'
Joseph 58', 80'
Costello 90'
A 10-goal thriller was ended with a tale of two goalkeepers at Christopher Park on Tuesday afternoon, first through the 5-5 equaliser from Accrington Stanley goalkeeper Liam Isherwood, before Latics stopper Sam Tickle saved the crucial penalty in the resulting shootout to give his side a 5-4 victory.
Sound simple? It wasn't...
Peter Murphy’s side found themselves 2-0 down at half-time, but goals from Thelo Aasgaard, Sean McGurk, and Kyle Joseph meant a lightning start after the break to make it 3-2. Accrington skipper Charlie Ridge made it 3-3, before Joseph's second had Latics back in front with 10 minutes to play... cue 4-4 through Jack Doherty in the 84th minute!
Tom Costello looked to have won it in stoppage time, but it would take penalties to separate the sides as Accrington goalkeeper amazingly equalised deep into an extended added period.
It was Tickle who won the battle of the keepers, saving Accrington's final penalty after Latics dispatched all five of their kicks, allowing Murphy and his team to breathe a sigh of relief as they qualified for the next round.
There was just the one change for Latics from Saturday’s 5-1 victory against Bolton Wanderers. Baba Adeeko came into the line-up, whilst Marcus Snell continued at left back following captain Harry Jolley’s start for the U23 side in their 1-1 draw against Huddersfield Town in the Premier League Cup on Monday evening.
Accrington sat 9th in the EFL Youth Alliance North Division and came into the game on the back of defeat to Hartlepool in the FA Youth Cup on Friday.
The wind proved to be difficult throughout the match and after a looping cross from the left was tipped onto the post, Jack McKinlay stabbed home at the back post at the second time of asking to give the visitors (who were technically the home side) the lead.
Stanley went on the assertive and soon put Latics to the sword scoring a quick second. Gabe Ellis found space on the right to play the ball across the box into the path of Ridge, who calmly slotted past Tickle to compound a miserable start.
Latics were restricted to half chances in the first half and McGurk was left frustrated on a number of occasions with blocked long-range efforts.
The breakthrough came early in the second half, when substitute Costello got the ball from a pullback, only to have his shot saved by the feet of Isherwood, little did the Accrington keeper expect Aasgaard to be lurking to finish for 2-1.
The tide quickly turned in what was a brilliant opening 15 minutes to the second half from the Latics.
Snell’s ball from the left evaded everyone, nevertheless, McGurk hung at the back post to strike across goal and find the far corner.
The comeback was soon complete, as Costello received the ball in the box and put it across the face, where captain Joseph scrambled the ball home to make it 3-2.
The game looked to be fading for Stanley, though they were still proving their threat – William Sung taking aim soon after kick-off and seeing his effort just wide.
A well worked corner led to McGurk delivering to the back post, and despite no one getting on the end of it the ball broke to Joseph who on the swivel agonisingly smashed it against the woodwork.
The game was back in the balance again after 70 minutes, and it was the same Accrington combination again which opened the defence - Ellis laying the ball back from the right for Ridge who placed the ball bottom right for 3-3.
Joseph was frustrated to have been called offside throughout, however, when Snell sent the ball across, he was all alone to go through and dink it over Isherwood.
Again, it was a lead they couldn’t hold, and as Isherwood was intercepted in defence, substitute Doherty found himself one-on-one with Tickle, and the game was less than 10 minutes from penalty kicks at 4-4.
In dramatic circumstances it looked as if a penalty kick would decide the game, as Costello tucked one away into stoppage time after he had been brought down.
One last twist would come deep into added time, as the goalkeepers would get the chance to be the heroes – Stanley Keeper’ Isherwood duly accepting the chance to go up for a last minute corner and scramble the ball home to send it to spot kicks.
In a roller-coaster encounter Latics finally earned their place in the next round, with Ollie Broe, Costello, Charlie Hughes, Joseph and MacKenzie O'Neill all converting their penalties, before Tickle made the crucial save. Final score 5-4 to Latics!
Latics: Tickle, Broe, Snell, Carragher, Isherwood, McWilliam, McGurk, Adeeko, Joseph, Aasgaard, O'Neill
Subs: Lloyd, Costello, Hughes, Lomax, Smith