Greenalls leave it late, but Slater settles close encounter (From Warrington Guardian)

Greenalls leave it late, but Slater settles close encounter

11:25am Thursday 7th March 2013 in Football

Greenalls 3
Rainhill 2 (aet)

GREENALLS needed extra time to reach the Guardian Cup Final at the expense of Rainhill.

Ben Slater secured victory for the Cheshire League side in dramatic fashion, avoiding a penalty shoot out by scoring the winner with four minutes left.

Their reward is a head-to-head with with Runcorn Albion at Warrington Town FC on Easter Monday, kick off 11am.

It took the visitors 13 minutes to secure a deserved breakthrough, Gareth Johns' clearance falling short to allow Liam Pearson to open their account.

Greenalls deservedly drew level on 41 minutes, when Chris Latham played a delightful lobbed pass through for Robbie Hanley, later to depart with a suspected dislocated shoulder, to side-foot home.

The teams were locked at 1-1 after 90 minutes. Extra time started in the worst possible fashion for the hosts, Rainhill converting a penalty soon after the restart.

Substitute Craig Hoyland played a part in the build-up to Danny Topping’s leveller, Slater settling the outcome soon afterwards following Lee Hughes’ fine dribble.