Shirebrook Soldiers dig in for victory

After going 1-0 down, Soldiers were awarded a penalty, which was saved by the keeper. The ref spotted some kind of infringement and Soldiers had to retake the penalty. There was no mistaking this time as Ben Owen Charlesworth made it 1-1.Still the opposition refused to wilter to the Soldiers pressure. It was then the teams realised the ref was not going to allow any messing about as he was soon dishing out yellow cards.The second half began as the first half had ended with both teams pressing and trying to find a weakness somewhere. Next minute the referee again points to the spot, and again Ben Owen Charlesworth stepped up to drill it in the net, to make it 2-1 to the Soldiers.Halfway through, the Ref showed a Soldiers player a red card, giving an obvious confidence booster to the Cromford side. They still could not find away through a stubborn Soldiers defence, and the minutes ticked by. With three minutes of time left, it looked as if the Soldiers had blown it, as the ref again pointed to the spot for a Cromford penalty. Enter the linesman who had raised his flag, after talking to one another, the ref reversed his decision and caused heartache to Cromford.That was how it all ended, and a Soldiers team march on to another Final. This time it is the Derbyshire Cup they are in, after last year’s success in the NSL Final against Bestwood..