A stoppage-time goal from Danny Cunningham gave the West Yorkshire League their first FA Inter League Cup on Sunday, securing a 3-2 win over the Teesside League.
The result means they now qualify for the UEFA Regions Cup, where they will represent England later in the year.
In a keenly contested game, it was the Yorkshiremen who scored after only two minutes as Matthew Moon slotted home off the underside of the bar.
West Yorkshire League 3-2 Teesside League
The FA Inter League Cup
Sunday 8 May 2016
Bootham Crescent, York City
It was a sloppy goal to give away at such an early stage but the Teessiders forced their way back into the game and equalised five minutes later when the dangerous Stuart Rose headed home from a long throw from Jason Jones.
The Teesside League were on top for long periods by now with Rose and Matthew McQueeney causing problems and Stephen Kerr making a number of smart saves to keep the score level at half time.
Given the sweltering temperatures at Bootham Crescent, referee Rob Jones to introduce two drinks breaks mid- way through each period and the second half began in a similar fashion to the first with an early goal as West Yorkshire’s Aidan Day converted a penalty on 47 minutes.
But the scores were level again on 58 minutes when McQueeney played in Paul Callan, whose shot from the edge of the box took a deflection off Russell Spence to leave Kerr stranded with the ball squeezing over the line.
The weather began to take its toll, with both sides making substitutions in an effort to find the elusive winning goal and it almost came on 80 minutes when a clever passing move from West Yorkshire ended in Cunningham crashing a shot off the bar.
And with both sides seemingly resigned to extra time, the Teesside League suffered a late blow when one of their attacks broke down mid-way through their opponents half, allowing Cunningham to break clear and calmly slot the ball past Andrew McDonald to send players and supporters into celebratory mood.
It was a cruel end to the Teesside League’s cup campaign. After wins in the Isle of Man against the holders and defeating former winners the Southern Amateur League, they must have been confident against a side actually beaten in their semi-final but then reinstated after a successful Appeal.
The West Yorkshire League will now progress into the UEFA Regions Cup qualifying competition, where they will face tough opposition from Romania, Russia and Serbia in a week long mini tournament in Romania from 18 to 25 September, with the winders progressing to the Finals in June 2017.
