Penalty shooutout heroics from goalkeeper Brad James saw Moors drag themselves back from two down to defeat Boston United and clinch a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Trophy.
A monster comeback from Moors, spearheaded by Glen Taylor, took the game to penalties in which James produced three brilliant saves, continuing the Moors’ cup run for another round.
Boston had opened the scoring through former Darlington man Jacob Hazel, who fired home a rebound from close range early in the second half. The visitors then doubled their lead just minutes later through Jai Rowe, whose powerful header flew past James.
Moors hit back on the 66th minute through Taylor, who tucked home into the bottom left corner, before Rob Ramshaw levelled things through a low driven effort. The game then went to penalties and it was Moors who came out victorious thanks to a hat-trick of saves from their Number One.
The game began with Moors looking to take an early lead, calling goalkeeper Cameron Gregory into action just four minutes in with Corey McKeown having his low shot well saved well.
Captain Taylor fired a vicious 30-yard freekick goalward just two minutes later, which appeared to be flying into the top right-hand corner and would have, had it not been for a great diving save from Gregory.
The visitors tried to even the game out as they began to come forward themselves. Jai Rowe had a chance as the ball dropped kindly for him in the penalty area. The Boston man took aim but missed his kick completely and saw it cleared.
Boston proceeded to have a golden opportunity go begging on the 32nd minute. Dan Rowe gave up the ball to Frankie Maguire, who stampeded down on goal with only the keeper to beat. However, luckily for Moors, Maguire completely lost his footing, and James was able to claim in what was a real let off for the home side.
Moors produced a few half chances before the break, as Ramshaw looked to find space in the box only to be called offside before McKeown’s ambitious effort from 30 yards flew well wide of the mark.
There wasn’t much to separate the two sides during the opening 45, as the game remained a stalemate. Moors and Boston will have been looking to start the second half well, and that’s just what the visitors did.
Graham Coughlan’s side found the breakthrough 10 minutes into the second half as a corner from the right found the head of Jai Rowe. His effort ricocheted back off the bar and into the mix of players in the penalty area, only for the ball to be fired home by Hazel. The substitute did well to avoid the Moors men on the line and tuck home into the bottom corner.
The Pilgrims really started to get on top of the game by this point, underlined by their second goal just four minutes later. It was almost rinse and repeat of the buildup to the first one, as a long ball into the once again met the head of Rowe. This time, however, the headed effort flew past James and into the net for 2-0.
Moors looked dejected and the game looked to have been done and dusted, which it easily could’ve been on 63 minutes. A ball in, this time from Dylan Hill, found Hazel in the centre of the area. However, the front man just couldn’t keep his header down, much to the relief of Moors.
Graeme Lee went on to change shape with the substitution of both wingers for Aidan Rutledge and Michael Ledger, going for a two up top striker partnership. This tactical change saw Moors regain their confidence, and, with 66 minutes on the clock, found their lifeline.
Some good play down the right saw Callum Ross play a ball into the box which was deflected back out to Ledger. The substitute wasted no time and played the ball to Glen Taylor in the area, who swept home a composed effort into the bottom left-hand corner.
Unsurprisingly, the momentum now shifted into Moors favour, with Boston now looking likely to concede again and they almost did just three minutes later. It was Ramshaw who ran down the right, before squaring to Taylor. The striker miss hit his effort, recollected the ball, and scooped a decent strike goalward, agonisingly seeing it smash off of the crossbar and to safety.
Graeme Lee’s men were coming forward with real menace now, striving for that second goal to level the affair, and with just 12 minutes remaining, they found it. Ramshaw played Taylor in behind the Boston defence, before breaking into the box. The captain then turned goal scorer to provider as he squared it to Ramshaw, who tucked home a smart finish beneath Gregory to tie the match at 2-2.
The Pilgrims tried to grab a third but Jai Rowe’s headed effort was well stopped by Brad James, who got down fast to prevent heartbreak for the home side.
It suddenly had become a real tense affair as both teams began throwing the kitchen sink at it, looking for a third before the end.
Moors came close to finding that final goal with six minutes remaining as Dyson came forward down the right-hand side. Ramshaw bared down on goal, striking a powerful effort but it was mis skewed and flew wide of the mark.
The game couldn’t be decided in normal time and had to come down to penalties, with both sets of fans cannoning to the other side of the pitch to put off the penalty takers. Brad James, of course, is no stranger to penalty shootouts, saving a crucial sudden death penalty in the National League playoff final for Hartlepool, and he was to prove the hero again.
Taylor and Matty Dolan both converted before Olly Dyson hit the bar and Aidan Rutledge saw his spot-kick saved, but James saved from Jimmy Knowles, Sam Osborne and Zak Mills which allowed Reece Staunton to ram home his kick to send The Brewery Field into raptures.
Moors now shift focus onto next week’s journey to Hereford, and await the FA Trophy draw on Monday, to see who they will be facing in the quarter-finals.
Full Time: Moors 2 Boston 2 (3-1 on penalties)
Moors: James; Dyson, Rowe, Beals, Staunton; Ross (Shrimpton 77), Dolan; Mondal (Ledger 64), Ramshaw, McKeown (Rutledge 74); Taylor.
Subs not used: Johnson, Rose, Dodds, McGinley.
Booked: Dolan (41).
Boston United: Gregory, Rowe, Mills, Teale, Green (Coates 72); Weston, Maguire, Woods (Richards 90), Hill, Ward (Osborne 65); Gale (Knowles 75).
Subs not used: Leak, Lovelace.
Booked: Green (41), Gale (73), Rowe (86), Weston (90).
Referee: Garreth Rhodes
Attendance: 1,028 (167 Boston United)
Written by Noah Betts
