Under-16 County Cup Final

WEYMOUTH 3 BLANDFORD 2

BIANCA Randall struck two minutes from the end of extra-time to earn Weymouth the County Cup at Canford Arena.

In a swirling wind these two evenly matched teams fought out a thrilling final.

Weymouth suffered a nightmare start keeper Zoë Forward was booked when she was judged to have fouled a Blandford player, and a penalty was awarded.

However, she pulled off a fantastic save and this galvanised Weymouth to step up a gear.

Randall and Rachel Pedder both had good chances but the defence of Georgia Rogers, Jessica Taylor, Ellen Tilsed and Sammy Whisker had to be alert as Blandford were very quick on the counter-attack.

Rogers set up the opener when she rifled in a free-kick, which the keeper spilled and Bryony Webb was in the right place to fire home.

The second half mirrored the first with Blandford being awarded another penalty, this time when an unfortunate Rachel Sykes was helpless to prevent the ball hitting her arm. There was nothing Forward could do to stop a very well struck penalty from making it 1-1.

The game then swung in Blandford’s favour when they went 2-1 up, as a result of a well-worked attack, but rather than give up, Weymouth went all out to chase the equaliser.

Pedder, Sykes, Webb and Jody Urwin worked tirelessly in midfield and Chloe Lea saw a glorious header fly just the wrong side of a post.

Georgina Hartley was foiled by a superb save and Sarah Draper had a shot saved on the line.

But the breakthrough came when Randall picked up a poor clearance and flicked it on for Lea who made no mistake and hammered it past the keeper to level the score.

It remained this way at the end of 80 minutes, so extra-time was required.

Weymouth went close when Sophie Hardy set up a great chance for Webb but her fierce strike flew agonisingly wide of the target.

With two minutes left on the watch and a penalty shoot-out looming, Urwin threaded a delicate ball into the path of Randall who took on two defenders before burying her shot in the bottom corner.

The final whistle was met by wild celebrations from the ecstatic Weymouth players and their manager Mark Rogers and coach Tim Davis.

A league and cup double is still possible, as victory in their final match on Saturday at the Wessex Stadium will see them leapfrog Blandford in the table and claim the title by one point.

Weymouth will now represent Dorset FA at the South West Regional Final of the Tesco Cup in Bristol on Sunday.