MATCH REPORT: Chaddy one step away from cup final after dramatic shootout win.

Written by Jacob Jones

The returning Dale Latham was the hero on Wednesday night, saving two of the five penalties that he faced to see us win the shootout against West Didsbury & Chorlton.

We made a total of five changes for this cup tie, with Tyler Berry, Wisdom Bernard, James Purfield, Ethan Sutcliffe and Dale Latham coming into the starting eleven.

It was a strong start for us, mostly controlling possession, Sutcliffe saw his header fly just wide early on. However, West Didsbury & Chorlton were still showing us their quality in the early stages forcing some good goalkeeping from Latham.

But we took the lead around the 25-minute mark. Matty Crothers with an inviting cross into the area, met by Wisdom Bernard who redirected the ball into the back of the visitors’ net with a well taken header to put us in the driving seat.

We continued to knock on the door after the goal, Matty Crothers making himself extremely hard to live with for the opposition with another great ball into Tyler Berry who forced a good save from close range.

We took our 1-0 lead into the half-time interval, perhaps frustrated not to have extended the margin of that lead in the first half but overall, a very positive first forty-five minutes.

We began the second half in style, Wisdom Bernard getting his brace with another very well taken goal to put us 2-0 up just five minutes into the second half.

Bernard was agonisingly close to his hat-trick when he saw his shot blaze over the bar from yards out.

Just a minute after a massive chance to put the game to bed, West had a goal back. A shot from Roberts took a big deflection off of Jacob Ngoy, leading the ball to loop over Latham in goal.

It was a frustrating end to the game, as West Didsbury & Chorlton were awarded a penalty and a huge chance to put themselves on level terms. Originally, the penalty was saved by Dale Latham in our goal, but the rebound was tapped in by Briggs, taking us to a penalty shootout.

It was not the ideal beginning to the shootout as our first penalty was saved, but Latham ensured that it stayed level, spectacularly saving the visitors first penalty.

We went onto score our next four penalties, meaning that if the next West penalty was missed, we would book our place in the semi-finals. Dramatically, Latham pulled off yet another penalty save and ensured that we progress in the cup.

We are delighted to be in the semi-final, but there is little time for celebrations as we shift our focus to a massive clash away at top of the league Ramsbottom United (weather permitting).

#UpTheChad