Crowle United booked their place in the Sunday League divisional cup final for the third time in four years with an exceptional display against the league leaders and current champions Burton, writes Ian McCluskey.
The emphatic 5-2 scoreline could have been more, with an outstanding performance from Man of the match Daniel Barrowcliffe, who scored four goals and led the team to a historical win against their league rivals.
His brother Lee scored the fifth and final goal after coming on as a second half substitute to book their place at Birch Park.
Paul Boucher also put in a great shift with some tough and well-timed important tackles.
Crowle won the toss and decided to swap ends and face the strong wind first.
In the opening ten minutes the game was quite even with both teams pressing hard and trying to gain the edge. Paul Boucher and Ricky Girling worked hard in the centre of midfield to breakdown the Burton attack.
All the home team’s threats came though the centre but they were contained through long periods of the game.
Going forward, young striker Ryan Bonser was proving to be a handful for the Burton defence. Barrowcliffe also looked razor sharp firing wide early on after linking up well with Girling through the middle.
Twenty minutes in, the home side nearly opened the scoring when a Burton midfielder fired his shot past the oncoming ‘keeper Simon Fletcher but flew past the post for a goalkick.
Crowle started to play great football and looked to have the swagger from previous games, with Bonser shooting wide after a great one-two with Barrowcliffe.
With thirty minutes gone, Burton had a goal disallowed after Fletcher caught the ball, but was bundled over by an opposing striker and the referee decided to award a free kick.
But one minute later, the home side had the breakthrough. After a poor clearance, a Burton midfielder fired a shot past the rooted Fletcher and rustled in against the post.
The visitors stepped up their game and responded at the other end - Boucher whipped in a cross which was nodded just over the bar from Barrowcliffe.
United continued to push for a goal and were awarded a free-kick right on the edge of the box following a foul on Ben Simpson. Adi Sherwood was very unlucky not to score as it flew inches over the bar.
United began the second half the same way they finished first, and it wasn’t long before Barrowcliffe scored his first. A long ball forward by Fletcher was brilliantly dealt with by Bonser who angled his run to catch out a Burton defender and used his pace to run clear. The goalkeeper parried his shot but Barrowcliffe collected the rebound to strike and level.
The equaliser was short lived as Burton immediately replied, scoring directly from the kick-off. A run from the right winger was not tracked and he crossed the ball which seemed to take everyone by surprise and was bundled home from four yards out.
On 50 minutes, Sherwood crossed low and hard for substitute Martin Fletcher to fire over the bar after running 30 yards to get to the box.
This spurred Crowle on and the away side began to find cracks in the home team’s backline and eventually pulled the game back again. Fletcher won a corner and fired in a deep cross to find Barrowcliffe to nod home for 2-2.
From the restart, Crowle intercepted the ball from midfield and it was again pumped forward by Boucher to the area where Burton could not deal with it. Barrowcliffe latched onto the ball and fired home with a great strike to bring up his hat-trick.
Burton seemingly unravelled as Girling stole the ball away from a Burton midfielder, strode forward and picked out Fletcher who swept in a low cross. It was too easy for Barrowcliffe who tapped home to make it 4-2.
By this point Burton could not get out of their own half. Good crisp passing and interchanging football came from Crowle as the hosts looked dishevelled.
Bonser was substituted for Lee Barrowcliffe with a few minutes to go and, not to be outdone by his brother, took no time at all to find the net. He latched onto a forward ball from a Fletcher goalkick and went one-on-one with the Burton ‘keeper and placed the ball to the bottom left-hand corner for 5-2.
The final whistle blew with the Isle of Axholme team recording an emphatic win over their league rivals. Every single player came of the pitch knowing that the hard work and team spirit was rewarded.
Crowle United: S. Fletcher Odling, Hill, Davey Sherwood (Janes) J. Simpson (M. Fletcher), Boucher, Girling, B. Simpson D. Barrowcliffe and Bonser (L. Barrowcliffe)