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Ten-man Shadoxhurst lifted the Division Four League Cup at the Reachfields Stadium on Sunday after an exciting and entertaining 2-1 extra-time victory over an impressive and young Ashford Victoria side. In glorious spring-time sunshine down in Hythe, the 250-odd paying spectators were treated to over two-hours of brilliant football that will go a long way to show the rest of the football world the high standard of Division Four football.

Both teams arrived at the Kent League sides ground in plenty of time to get rid of any pre-match nerves. Shadoxhurst reached the final thanks to wins over Highfield United Reserves in the quarter-finals and Ashford Spartans in the last-four, while Victoria had to play one game more after having to play an extra preliminary round back in October. The Vics saw off Wye Monarchs 7-1 on that occasion, before seeing off Ruckinge United 2-1 and then Park Farm Rangers 10-1 in the semi-final.

Victoria welcomed back Tony Mason at left-back while Stuart Prior retained his place alongside Jack Bundock in attack. Wayne Cleave returned to the squad after missing the past four-months of the season through suspension but only made the bench alongside Dave Cox, Darren Patterson and Karl Quigley. The Shads had skipper John Gibbs available despite a soon approaching suspension while Andy Hone partnered Damien Morse in their front-line.

Shadoxhurst settled the quickest once the game got underway and started to pass the ball around very well as Victoria seemed to be chasing shadows. And the frustration of Shadoxhurst’s possession led to the games first goal as Victoria’s Luke Hendry caught Andy Hone just outside the penalty area and referee Colin Southern awarded Shadoxhurst a direct free-kick in just the second-minute. Bromley Green midfielder Shaun Gibbs brilliantly curled the resulting set-piece around the Victoria defensive wall and beyond the reach of Mark Bennett in the Vics goal much to the delight of the villagers travelling supporters.

Victoria quickly woke-up after the early goal and started to find their own rhythm too. Shane Jupp and Jack Bundock linked up to create Victoria’s first chance of the game on 6 minutes but Bundock’s shot was deflected out for a corner by Shadoxhurst defender Gary Gibbs. Darryl George’s clever cross from the left then caused confusion in the Shadoxhurst defence, but Aaren Carlton failed to connect his shot properly and his effort trickled into the grateful arms of ‘keeper Billy Rice.

After an end-to-end and quite even first 25 minutes, Victoria started to dominate the remainder of the first-half and the energetic Shane Jupp was at the heart of almost everything going forward. He set Bundock off on a run down the right-hand side which created Victoria’s best chance of scoring, Bundock getting to the by-line before delivering a perfect cross to strike-partner Stuart Prior, who rose above the defence to only agonisingly head against the upright with the goalkeeper well beaten.

But Prior did get his reward soon after and equalised after 37 minutes. Andy Jones' quickly taken throw-in on the right-hand side was played back to him by Jupp, and Jones slid a delightful ball down the line to Bundock, who managed to again get the better of Gary Gibbs and play the ball into Prior, and after stepping over and around two Shadoxhurst defenders, the Bromley Green striker scrambled the ball home under the body of Rice to level the scores and send the Victoria supporters crazy.

The second-half continued at the same frantic pace as the first 45-minutes and the effect of the game started to show as both sides suffered from bouts of cramp, a factor that probably influenced the referee to add an amazing seven-minutes of stoppage time on at the end of the 90-minutes. And although the score didn’t change in the second-half, Victoria should really have seen the game off. Shadoxhurst, who failed to register a single attempt on target in the second 45-minutes, were reduced to ten-men when captain John Gibbs was shown a second yellow card for a two-foot tackle on Stuart Prior and Shadoxhurst were dealt a further blow when the influential Shaun Gibbs was forced off and sent to hospital with suspected ankle ligament damage.

Jack Bundock seemed very annoyed with himself after failing to hit the back of the net and could have grabbed the winning goal on two occasions late on after he chased onto long-balls over the top, but couldn’t get the better of Rice in the Shadoxhurst goal in one-on-one situations. Vics skipper Andy Jones had a great chance to grab a late winner but blasted high and wide from a good shooting position while Shane Jupp could only fire straight at the ‘keeper when clean through on goal.

So the match went into extra-time, and despite the introduction of Wayne Cleave at the back for the injured Luke Hendry, Shadoxhurst grabbed a goal from nowhere after a defensive mix-up. Gary Gibbs and James Matthews linked-up well on the left-hand side and after a scramble in the Victoria penalty area, somehow the ball was delivered towards the penalty spot and Dan Squirrel was on hand to volley home the winner.

Victoria attempted in vain to equalise and force the game into a penalty shoot-out but constantly came unstuck against a determined Shadoxhurst defence, and the village side held out despite some desperate defending as Victoria threw everyone into attack including goalkeeper Mark Bennett.

Match Ratings...

Mark Bennett (8) Didn't show any signs of nerves on the big stage and showed why he is regarded as the best 'keeper in the league with some very confident catches and interceptions. Unlucky not to keep out the first goal but will feel hard done by for the second.

Luke Hendry (7) Dealt with the double-threat of James Matthews and Gary Gibbs on his side very well before picking up a knock that he struggled on with for the rest of the half. Finally had to retire from the game mid-way through the second-half.

Tony Mason (8) Played a key role on the left side of defence and never strayed too far away from Shadoxhurst's Dan Squirrel. Now back in the kind of form we associate with him from the tail-end of last season.

Andy Jones (9) Battled hard for 120 minutes against the most physical midfield in the league. Stuck well to his defensive duties allowing other players to get forward, and also got in some good shooting positions himself.

Ryan Martin (8) Another solid display from the tall centre-half. Was asked to move to right-back when Hendry went off injured, and despite a recent lack of experience in that role, came out on top with a professional performance.

Mark Rutland (9) Probably one of the best performances in a Victoria shirt from the big man. Made numerous interceptions and last-minute challenges that broke up several Shadoxhurst attacks and adds an added security in defence.

Shane Jupp (9) Worked tirelessly, sometimes without the reward he deserved, all over the pitch. Was at the heart of almost everything going forward and still gave 100% right until the end despite clearing running on empty.

Aaren Carlton (8) Showed great maturity in his defensive game and was very well disciplined in midfield, which is maybe why he was a little restricted getting forward at times, although did have a couple of opportunities at goal.

Jack Bundock (9) Run himself into the ground chasing the ball all over Shadoxhurst's half of the field and seemed a little annoyed with himself that he didn't get his goal, but did set-up Prior's first-half equaliser with a great ball to feet delivery.

Stuart Prior (9) Man of the match. Fantastic team performance from the recent signing and covered almost every blade of grass when he dropped back into midfield to cover in extra-time. Scored his first goal for the club and was unlucky too when hitting the woodwork.

Darryl George (7) A seven seems a little harsh on the talented left-forward, but he was constantly picked out by the Shadoxhurst players as a threat and wasn't given an inch. Did show some signs of magic but was forced off injured late in the second-half.

Substitutes...

Wayne Cleave (8) Replaced Hendry 64 mins. Disciplined return by the much-missed defender who slotted in at the back midway through the second-half. Was pushed upfront in extra-time as Victoria pushed for a goal and caused the Shadoxhurst defence all sort of problems

Darren Patterson (7) Replaced George 74 mins. Did very well to find the pace of the game so quickly and got stuck in on the left of midfield. Shows some neat touches and passed the ball around well linking up with Prior and Jupp.

Karl Quigley (6) replaced Carlton 86 mins. Got a good 40 minutes or so under his belt and didn't let the side down when he came on. Tried hard to break a way through the Shadoxhurst defence but failed to get a clean shot away.

Dave Cox (-) Unused.

Ryan Mills (-) Unused.

The day itself was amazing and something I will remember for the rest of my life, the coach journey to the ground, arriving at the stadium and the pre-match banter in the home dressing room. The supporters that came along to cheer us on were brilliant too and I hope the majority will come back again and watch us at Hythe Road next season and continue to follow the Vics. I was told that just under 250 people were at the Reachfields Stadium yesterday, and I’d say at least half were supporting us so thank-you again for your support.

The game itself was horrible to watch from the bench and I felt physically sick at times. It’s hard standing on the sidelines at the best of times but yesterday was one of the most frustrating games since I have been running this club. We had come so far this season and every player out there deserved some reward for their hard work and I was gutted for them at the final whistle as they wanted this so much.

The players were amazing and I am so proud of all of them, everyone gave 200% for the cause but we just couldn’t recover from that cruel goal at the start of extra-time. The amount of players that went down with cramp just shows the pace that the game was played at and we were so unlucky with injuries of our own. Poor old Luke Hendry was devastated that he had to come off with a foot injury having had such a brilliant season remaining injury-free for the majority of the year, and we lost two of our most influential players in Aaren Carlton and Darryl George in the second-half through injuries too.

And a special shout-out should go to Dave Cox, who was the unlucky unused substitute. Dave didn’t moan or sulk once after being overlooked and got involved in the game as much as his team-mates on the field by encouraging and motivating his team from the sidelines and in the dressing room at half-time. And also a thank-you to Kenny Sharpe for helping me out yesterday as my number-two for the day and I think he enjoyed the occasion too.

Finally, well done Stuart Prior for notching his first Ashford Victoria goal, okay it was a little bit scrappy, but as all good strikers know, they all count! Stuart has proved the minority of doubters wrong over the past month or so and he was my choice for man of the match yesterday with a gutsy and determined performance and his experienced has proved invaluable to the team.

So lets make up for this defeat by beating Shadoxhurst in our final league game next month and win the Division Four title.

Gaffer…