Match Report

FC United retained the Frank Hannah Manchester Premier Cup 3-2 on penalties after twice coming from behind to draw 2-2 with Trafford on Tuesday evening.

The Reds had gone behind twice in the first half but goals from Scott Kay and Joel Senior had levelled things up, before a red card for Trafford’s Mark Derbyshire saw FC take a hold of the game but they couldn’t find a way through a resilient and experienced Trafford defence.

Derbyshire had given Trafford an early lead with a great header that left Lloyd Allinson no chance of getting near the ball, but the Reds responded well and just before the half hour mark captain Scott Kay lead by example with his own headed goal from a Kieran Glynn corner to level up the scores.

It looked like Trafford had done enough to take the lead into the break when a great individual run from Darius Palma ended with a goal with just two minutes left. But there was still time for FC to draw level once more as Joel Senior finished off a nice little move between himself and Glynn just before the break.

The first 45 minutes had been an even game with both teams having good spells, but the momentum of the game swung in our favour early in the second half as a late tackle from Derbyshire saw him shown his second yellow card just seven minutes into the half.

From that point on it was all about if FC United could find a way through, but the Trafford defence showed their experience with the odd well-placed foul here and there breaking up any attacks and more importantly any momentum that the Reds could get going.

Despite dominating possession with the extra man, clear cut chances were few and far between and the Reds were held to half chances from outside the box as they found the yellow wall that was the Trafford defence difficult to break down.

FC United’s Elliot Simoes gave glimpses of why he’s been called up from the youth team with a good performance in the second half and went closest to sealing the game with an effort from outside the box which just went over the bar.

Unable to find a way through the final whistle went and the game went straight to penalties. Jack Dorney netted the first penalty for Trafford, whilst player manager Tom Greaves showed composure to his players to put FC’s first spot-kick away.

With the score at 2-1 to Trafford, Joel Senior saw his penalty saved and there was a feeling that following a dominant second half that didn’t find a goal the tie may just slip away from the Reds in the lottery that is a penalty shootout.

Lloyd Allinson has been one of the standout players of the season and he showed why with the next penalty, which saw him strongly save a hard-struck shot and really give the momentum back to FC.

Kay levelled things at 2-2 and with Allinson’s super save now fresh in the Trafford players’ minds, they knew it would be hard to beat Allinson and perhaps looking for a more powerful effort on goal Sean Miller put his effort well over the bar.

Glynn netted FC’s fourth penalty and put them just one miss or save away from victory. Danny Frost was the unfortunate Trafford player who saw his effort go over the bar allowing FC United to become consecutive winners of the Frank Hannah Manchester Premier Cup.

With a final game against bottom side North Ferriby at home on Saturday, FC will undoubtedly be full of confidence as they look to finish the season on a high.

Website man of the match: Scott Kay – lead by example in the midfield, getting the first equaliser and netting his spot kick in the shootout. Not for the first time this season Scott Kay did what Scott Kay does best in the centre of the park and proved what an asset he is to this team.