IT was fourth time lucky for Heslerton as they finally overcame title rivals Whitby Fishermen’s Academy in the Quarter Finals of the Ryedale Hospital Cup.
Whitby had edged the sides’ previous meetings - the latest of which needed no fewer than 18 penalties to decide their Gordon Harrison Cup tie - but it was Heslerton who were finally left celebrating after coming out on top in the spot-kick lottery following a 2-2 draw.
Visitors Heslerton were sharpest out of the blocks, with wing man Morgan Kendrew heavily involved as both George Ridler and Rob Ruston sent headers wide of the target.
But despite the early pressure from the Sand Lane side, it was Whitby who took the lead against the run of play with 25 minutes on the clock.
However, Heslerton soon rallied, Jack Pinder playing a neat one-two with Kendrew before tapping home the equaliser.
And the visitors had turned the game on its head by the interval.
A corner was only half-cleared to Seb Marras, who dispatched a first-time ball back into the box for Ridler. He could only watch on as his header cannoned off the crossbar, but David Hebron reacted quickest to fire his side in front.
Having lost Jamie Atkinson and Rob Ruston, Whitby faced a somewhat makeshift midfield for the second half, and their sustained pressure paid off when they equalised just before the hour.
Heslerton were thankful to goalkeeper Simon Clark for making a string of saves, and looked to have nicked victory following a fine run and finish from Kendrew, only for him to have eventually been adjudged to have been offside.
Whitby were reduced to 10 men for dissent as the game drew to its conclusion, but neither side could prevent the looming penalties.
The hosts saw their second penalty clawed away by Clark before firing their third over the bar, leaving 17-year-old Jake Allardice to send his side through 4-2 on spot-kicks.
Ryan Rivis bagged a handful as a rampant Wombleton Wanderers also eased through in the competition courtesy of their 9-2 thrashing of Snainton.
Slow out of the blocks, the visitors found themselves two goals down less than 10 minutes into the contest.
Snainton did threaten to come back into the match, but were controversially denied by what appeared to have been the hand of Wombleton’s centre-back, losing Liam Cooper to the sin-bin for his protestations.
A man down, the visitors continued to ship goals, with Wombleton scoring a further two by half time, and extending their total to seven just after the hour mark.
Snainton did eventually have some joy in front of goal as Joe Milner converted a penalty before Dan Simpson scored a stunning individual effort, but that proved to be in vain, Wombleton netting a further twice before the game reached its conclusion.
There was also action in the aforementioned George Harrison Memorial Trophy, with two Zac Hansen goals either side of a George Sault effort sending The Valley through with a 2-1 home triumph over Goldsborough.
Away from the Beckett League’s Cup competitions, in Division One, Ayton ensured that they kept up the pressure on the top three with a 6-4 victory at home to Kirkdale.
The hosts thoroughly dominated proceedings, a Brad Marshall hat-trick contributing half of their eventual six-goal total, alongside goals from Nicko Dunn, Eric Hall and substitute Ben Mason.
Kirkdale had a goal-scoring substitute of their own as Oliver Hepton helped himself to a brace off the bench in a final 15 minutes that saw the visitors strike three times, but it proved too little, too late to mount a comeback.
In Division Two, Goal Sports looked to take advantage of Heslerton and Whitby’s Cup tie to move to the summit, but were held to a 2-2 draw at last-placed Fishburn Park.
It looked to be business as usual for Goal Sports when Dragos Dragan handed them an early advantage, but they were perhaps fortunate to see Ron Locker’s equaliser ruled out for offside as Fishburn looked for a response.
Carl Oliver was left helpless as the visitors doubled their lead from a deflected effort, but he was in dreamland after his goal kick lobbed his opposite number to pull a goal back for the hosts.
Fishburn then completed the comeback when Harry Poole fired an unstoppable 20-yard free kick to share the spoils.
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