Bishop’s Stortford 0-0 (9-10 p) Hitchin Town

Bishop’s Stortford 0-0 (9-10 p) Hitchin Town Match Report 14/4/26

Hertfordshire Senior Cup Final

Hamish Arnold

Steve Castle’s 100th match as Bishop’s Stortford ended in penalty heartbreak in the Hertfordshire Senior Cup Final on Tuesday, with Hitchin Town winning the shootout 9-10 to lift the trophy. The Canaries – playing on their home ground but as the away team – scored all of their penalties and only Fabio Virciglio for the Blues saw his effort saved by Tyler McGregor.

After a cagey start to the match, the first chance at goal didn’t come until the 22nd minute when the returning Charlie Johnson marauded forward a fizzed a pass into Brad Russell in a central position, he controlled the ball and shot with a half-volley which looked to be dipping into the net but McGregor caught the ball above his head. Johnson was the provider once more as Aaron Greene dribbled along the 18 yard line from the wing and curled a shot towards the far side netting, but a strong hand from the diving McGregor forced a corner, from which Stortford continued to apply pressure for the remainder of the first period, but couldn’t fashion another shooting opportunity.

HT 0-0

Cole Dasilva fired a long range strike over the bar, before Jaden Ogwuazor came forward with the ball from defence, he slid Russell through on goal but Ciaren Jones recovered to block his low shot for a corner. Dasilva received a diagonal long ball to the left side of the box but his low left footed shot went wide of the bottom corner. Frank Norris flicked on a long throw to Dasilva but he shot wide, before Josh Jackman fired over the bar in a rare attack for the Southern League Division One Central side. Obi Onyeagwara injected some pace off the bench and started a counter attack before crossing low to Dasilva, his low cross was blocked and Greene hit the post with the rebound. Kye Tearle headed wide from a left wing cross and Erin Amu crossed from the left to Greene but his shot was saved by McGregor’s knee from a tight angle.

FT 0-0

Dasilva scored with the first penalty into the bottom right corner, Taylor Rhiney levelled it up with a strike into the left side netting. McGregor got a hand to Jack Smith’s spot kick but the pace saw it into the net in the bottom left corner, Diogo Freitas-Gouveia scored through Adam Hayton’s hands as he dived to his right, before Hayton stepped up and calmly picked out the top left corner. Josh Coldicott-Stevens found the left side netting, and Greene went the same way with McGregor guessing incorrectly, before Hayton got a strong hand to Kavan Cotter’s penalty but couldn’t keep it out. Deivi Kreka scored into the bottom left corner, as did Tearle and Amu picked out the top right. Skipper Jones scored down the middle and Leon Davies successfully scored into the bottom right corner, Callum Kane saw Hayton dive the correct way but couldn’t keep his low shot to the bottom right corner out. Blues captain Jake Thompson sent McGregor the wrong way with his penalty to the bottom left corner, Jackman scored down the middle, Johnson’s powerful effort into the top left couldn’t be stopped despite McGregor getting a fingertip on the ball. Toby Syme scored down the middle before Virciglio saw his effort saved by McGregor diving low to his left, and Blue Joy sealed the win by sending Hayton the wrong way with a shot into the right side of the net.

FT 0-0 (9-10 p)

TEAMS

Bishop’s Stortford XI

1 Adam Hayton

3 Leon Davies

4 Cole Dasilva

5 Jake Thompson (c)

9 Frank Norris (Onyeagwara 66’)

10 Brad Russell (Virciglio 66’)

14 Jack Smith

16 Jaden Ogwuazor (Kreka 66’)

18 Erin Amu

19 Aaron Greene

22 Charlie Johnson

Subs

6 Mark Haines

11 Obi Onyeagwara

12 Fabio Virciglio

15 Deivi Kreka

20 Harry Forde

Hitchin Town XI

1 Tyler McGregor

2 Josh Jackman

3 Callum Kane

4 Blue Joy

5 Toby Syme

6 Ciaren Jones (c)

7 George Morrall (Coldicott-Stevens 90+1’)

8 Kavan Cotter

9 Taylor Rhiney

10 Fernando Bell-Toxtle (Freitas-Gouveia 90+6’)

11 Cole Butler (Tearle 62’)

Subs

12 Kye Tearle

14 Josh Coldicott-Stevens

15 Charlie Briggs

16 Diogo Freitas-Gouveia

17 Stephen Gleeson

Attendance 737