Coleford stung late on in dramatic final

Coleford Athletic were seconds away from lifting the Mid Somerset League Paulton Hospital Cup, only to concede a late equaliser and ultimately lose the final on penalties.

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Facing Shepton Mallet Reserves in the showpiece at Paulton Rovers’ Winterfield Road, the game got off to a good tempo before Shepton began to grow into the game without testing the goalkeeper.

It was Coleford though who came closest to opening the scoring on 19 minutes with a well-hit driven effort which went just wide.

The deadlock was finally broken just before the half hour mark when Coleford capitalised on a defensive mistake, however parity was quickly restored when Shepton managed to slot home the equaliser.

Shepton finished the first half strongly, but it remained all square at the break.

Coleford had the better of the second period, but it was Shepton who came closest to taking the lead just after the hour with a header which went just wide. Shepton also had a couple of chances from set-pieces as the game became a little stop-start, before they missed a great opportunity from eight yards which just rolled off target.