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With 24 points difference between the two sides, Junk were firm favourites to win the cup final, but both sides pushed each other to the wire in a goalless stalemate over the 90 minutes before the trophy was decided in a penalty shoot-out that went down to a dramatic sudden death spot kick.

The Wakefield side made a bright start and saw a long pass by Joseph Scargill send speed merchant Harrison Byrne towards the Junk danger zone, only to be denied by the recovery challenge of defender Tom Radley.

The Kirkburton outfit were forced to defend stoutly with Ash Downing latching on to a Jack Longly pass before seeing his under-hit lob fail to find target into the keepers’ reach.

Happy Wakefield Athletic A players with the Premiership Two League Cup trophy after their dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Junk Old Boys.

A long punt by goalkeeper Rushforth was poorly judged by a defender only for Ash Downing to steer his chance narrowly wide.

The Old Boys got to grips with the game after 20 minutes with both Tom Clarke and George Whittaker beginning to pull the strings. A series of corners were forced which saw a header from Tom Radley and a Jack Hepworth close range effort saved by Rushforth.

The second half saw Junk in a dominant mood, forcing the Athletic rearguard into a sterling performance and when they were breached, the heroics of their custodian Rushforth made sure a clean sheet was kept.

Jack Hepworth did miss a golden opportunity for Junk, shooting straight at the goalkeeper. At the other end, the persistence of Ted Dunning saw him outsmart the close attention of his marker before driving a low cross across goal. But a tap-in chance did not come to fruition with tired legs slow to react to a good goal scoring situation.

Cup hero and man of the match Will Rushforth saved two spot kicks in the penalty shoot-out that decided the Premiership Two League cup final.

A late scare saw keeper Rushforth make a point-blank save to deny Matty Hainsworth and the final had to be decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Travellers Stanley miss out in cup final after early goal blow against Vulcan FC

Athletic found target with the first three spot kicks through Ash Downing, Dalton Holford and Luke Barraclough before a David Mitchell penalty was pushed onto the post by keeper Mahoney.

Junk saw their first spot-kick by Rob Bartam saved by keeper Rushforth before goals by George Whittaker, Jack Hepworth and Tom Ladley took the shoot-out to 3-3 after four kicks each.

Penalty shoot-out heroes Dominic Taylor, Will Rushworth, Dalton Holford, Craig Holdsworth (standing), Ash Downing and Luke Barraclough (kneeling).

The tense drama continued with Dominic Taylor’s goal making it 4-3 to the Wakefield side only for Hainsworth to fire home to level it up again and take the shoot-out to sudden death.

Defender Craig Holdsworth hammered home an excellent spot-kick to make it advantage Athletic before Rushforth produced an acrobatic full-length stop to deny Ben Carrington and condemn Junk to defeat.

The save was followed by jubilation as Rushforth was engulfed by the wild celebrations of his team racing all the way from the centre circle to his goal area.

The man of the match award, sponsored by Pennines Trophies (Heckmondwike), was won by goalkeeper Rushforth.

The match balls were sponsored by Lightwaves Leisure & Community Centre, Wakefield.

Cup joy for Wakefield Athletic team after final shoot-out triumph against Junk Old Boys