In the end Spartak were left to rue their missed chances as heartbreak in the penalty shoot out meant that they couldn’t win a trophy for the second season in succession.

The match opened in frantic fashion. After 2 minutes Luke did well to intercept and fed Ethan in the box. However, his cross was met by the defence. Within the next 60 seconds both teams had a clear chance but Buckingham scuffed their shot and Ethan’s shot from a narrow angle was just about saved by the goalkeeper as it looked for a second it would squirm under him.

There were early chances galore when Jack R did well on right and his cross was met by Mathew. His shot was deflected high and the goalie had to scramble to pad the ball away.

Next was a marauding run after 10 from Luke but the final shot was weak and easy for the keeper. Just a minute later Tycho rose like a salmon to head the ball from a corner onto the crossbar.

In spurts the match was end to end. Buckingham had a shot after 16 minutes followed by another Ethan effort in the box but his left foot shot had no power. The next second the ball went all the way through but Caelan did enough to put the striker off.

At the first drinks break Spartak had been playing the better football and had edged the chances. Ethan had a number of chances which all fell on his left foot and Buckingham looked dangerous when they broke.

Four minutes into the restart Blake’s cross from the right was met by Ethan, but this was his hardest chance the header was always too high.

Next came a typical counter attack from Buckingham - their striker prodded the ball past Thomas and everyone watched nervously as the ball rolled past the outside of the post.

Just past the half hour mark Mali broke the offside trap but unfortunately scuffed his shot. Buckingham then broke immediately and needed a brilliant block from Thomas diving at the feet of the attacker to prevent Buckingham scoring the first goal of the game.

After 36 minutes Mali and Ethan battled hard on the edge of the box and Theo was through but decided to cross rather than shoot and it led to a corner. From the corner the ref saw a push in the box and Dylan duly converted the penalty. Spartak had taken the lead!

Buckingham’s first corner needed a good punch from Thomas to clear. This was followed by two further corners which Spartak dealt with to go in at half time one goal to the good.

It took 6 minutes for the second half to spark into life. Owen held up the ball well and then Niall passed through to Blake. It was a very difficult chance and ended up being comfortable for the keeper. Just a minute later another beautiful pass from Niall was well collected by Theo in the box. He turned the defender with great skill, but then shot straight at the keeper when a shot either side would have been a goal.

Four minutes later Buckingham showed their threat and a long range shot needed a scrambling save from Thomas.

Overall, the defensive play from Dylan, Caelan, Tycho and Sergio was excellent as they worked hard to prevent Buckingham from developing chances.

Spartak then had three chances within a couple of minutes. Firstly, there was good interplay between Owen and Blake and Blake’s effort needed a smart save. Then, Luke dazzled the crowd as he went through everyone but he couldn’t finish the job as his shot went wide. A minute later Theo had another chance but also shot wide.

These flurry of chances led to the second half water break. The match tension was building up as both teams knew that a moment of brilliance or a mistake could alter the match outcome.

After 26 minutes a Buckingham attack led to a goal. It looked like Dylan’s sliding tackle in the box had saved the day but their right winger crossed the ball back in and Buckingham scrambled the ball into the net for the equaliser.

The match could not have been any more tense. Both sides had chances in injury time but there were no more goals and therefore full-time finished 1-1.

Five minutes into extra time Blake’s free kick went straight at keeper from Blake but supporters were left wondering why advantage was not played leading up to the free kick as Ethan was through on goal anyway. Ethan was through again a minute later and managed to chip the keeper but the defender did well to clear.

Not long after Ethan did manage to put the ball in the back of the net after collecting Matthew’s deflected shot but was called offside.

Spartak had all the chances in the first period of extra time but the ball wouldn’t quite drop as we would have wanted.

The players were looking tired as the heat was taking its toll. Who would have the last ounces of energy to make a difference?

I don’t know where Jack J gets his energy but upon kick off his spurting runs led to a turnover and an eventual shot from Jack J himself that went passed the outside of the far post.

Spartak continued to push until the end and were the only team looking capable of scoring in extra time, but not managing to convert chances across the 100 minutes of play led the match going to penalties:

1-0 Matthew fired to bottom right.
1-1 Buckingham slid to bottom.
2-1 Luke sent goalie the wrong way and scored bottom right
2-2 Buckingham smashed the ball down the middle
3-2 Joseph calmly fired to left as the keeper went the other way
3-3 Thomas guessed the right way but couldn’t stop another well taken penalty to left hand side.
4-3 exactly like penalty before as Blake scored
4-4 Great penalty to draw things level
5-4 Dylan very good penalty to right
5-5 right down the middle as we move to the unexpected takers…
6-5 Thomas smashed the ball home
6-6 slid to left to keep the 100% record from the shootout.
6-6 Tycho penalty saved.
6-6 Very weak shot saved by Thomas.
6-6 Owen dragged it to the left.
6-7 Buckingham score to the right to win the game.

That was one of Spartak’s best performances of the season but they just came up short in a match they would have won easily on points, but its goals that count.

It was still a fantastic achievement to reach the final and the boys can be rightly proud of how they played today.