West Riding County FA Sunday Cup: Crossflatts Village 5 St John Fisher Old Boys 7

CROSSFLATTS Village’s County Cup dreams are over for another season after a pulsating 90 minutes.

The away side – currently top of the Heavy Woollen Sunday Premier League – raced into a 6-2 lead at half-time, thanks to a combination of fantastic finishing and tentative home defending.

The home side's goals were scored by the impressive Ollie Metcalfe from the spot, and the ever-reliable Michael Garnett.

A rousing half-time team-talk from Village player-manager Kelvin Gill seemed to galvanise his side, who started the second half well.

Gill’s troops clawed their way back thanks to goals from Colin Schofield and Adam Rooney, and then the evergreen Matthew Bentham got Flatts back to within one goal at 6-5 – sending the home fans wild in celebration.

The game opened up even more as Flatts pushed for the equaliser and the away side looked for the killer seventh goal.

The deciding moment came with seven minutes to go when Old Boys went on the counter-attack and their left winger was hacked down in the box by substitute Stephen Schofield.

The penalty was converted despite the best efforts of Flatts goalkeeper Dom Bennett, who dived the right way.

Despite the defeat, man-of-the-match Gill was delighted with his side’s fighting spirit.

He said: “I am very pleased with the effort shown by the lads against a very good side. It was a great effort to get back into the game but the penalty finished us off."

Crossflatts Village will look to bounce back in style on Sunday when they return to league action at Cullingworth Youth.