Lichfield City boss Ivor Green says he is proud of his players after they were knocked out of the Walsall Senior Cup by Rushall Olympic.
The Trade Tyre Community Stadium side had been 3-0 down after a brace from Samuel McLintock and a goal from Ronan Maher had seemingly put the game beyond doubt.
But Lichfield produced a stunning comeback against their higher league opponents in the final ten minutes of the semi-final as Dom Lewis, Jude Taylor and Jordan Clement all found the net.
The penalties saw the visitors finally overcome City’s resistance with a 6-5 win on spot kicks as keeper Jacob Weaver fired home the winning penalty for the Pics, after saving one immediately before.
The Lichfield manager said he was pleased with the spirit shown by his side.
“I’m proud as punch – I thought we were fantastic against a cracking side like Rushall.
“Six or seven of our players were under the age of 22 – a really young squad – and we saw their desire and passion to keep going. They believed in themselves and got their reward.
“I want my players to go into each game with a smile on their face. We saw that against Rushall and we’ll take that into Saturday’s game against Highgate.”
Ivor Green
City began brightly as Jack Edwards forced a save from Weaver from a free kick early on.
Elkes then flew in with a fantastic interception to disrupt a break from the Pics, which created an opportunity for teammates Clement and Dan Smith to aim efforts goalward.
But it was Rushall who netted the opener after 35 minutes as McLintock fired a powerful effort past James Beeson.
Just a few minutes into the second half, City youngster Ronnie Holt did well to deny the visitors with a superb challenge, but McLintock struck again with another powerful shot from distance to make it 2-0.
Walsall loanee Maher then finished off a well-worked break down the right hand-side to give Rushall a three-goal cushion.
But Lichfield managed draw level from nowhere, with three goals in quick succession.
Lewis headed in Edwards’ cross from the right to pull the scoreline back to 1-3, before Taylor slotted an effort past the keeper from just outside the six-yard box with three minutes left.
The dramatic leveller claim when the ball fell for clement to stab home from inside the area.
Edwards stepped up to take the first penalty and struck the back of the net before McLintock levelled. Both sides scored their second round of spot kicks, but Lichfield pulled ahead as Lewi Burnside made it 3-2.
However, the keeper saved Kieran Francis’ effort and the shoot-out went to sudden death as both sides scored their fifth penalties.
Beeson made a heroic stop to keep his side in the contest, but Jacob Weaver then saved Holt’s penalty, before scoring himself to book Rushall’s place in the cup final.
