Holker Old Boys Under-16s 4 Hawcoat Park 3

JOINT Barrow and District Junior Football League champions Holker and Hawcoat produced a seven-goal thriller at Holker Street.

Hawcoat went into the match having already claimed the Ulverston Hospitals Cup as well, while Holker had lost both that match and the Furness FA Cup final against Furness Rovers.

But league victories over Park and Swarthmoor prior to the KO Cup showdown had boosted Old Boys to joint-top in the league and given them hope for the last match of the season.

They started the match attacking the Crossbar End and produced a dominant spell, with full-backs Matty Boyd and Nathan Shaw supporting on the flanks and creating a series of chances for Macca Woods, Isaac Prosser and Jack Elliott.

Against the run of play, Hawcoat countered and some neat play from Joe Blackshaw and Frankie Ellis resulted in Luke Mitchell scoring a left-footer from 25 yards. The Stags in blue responded and, straight from the kick-off, drove forward, putting the Maroons’ defence on the back foot. Holker’s pressure paid off, with Woods setting up Prosser for a shot on the run to finish with assured aplomb.

Jack McGrillan bounced a free-kick off the Old Boys bar from 35 yards, while the Blues continued to press in what was developing into an entertaining, keenly-fought contest.

Park reclaimed the lead three minutes before half-time as a great passing move involving six players resulted in Ben Stoker turning his man and slotting home. Stoker then had another chance ruled out for offside as the sides went into the interval with Park 2-1 up.

Old Boys switched to a 4-5-1 formation in the second half and their midfield strength paid off when a flowing passing move resulted in a swift pass from Prosser to an unmarked Woods, who calmly shot home, despite offside calls from Hawcoat.

Stoker saw another goal chalked off for offside before Prosser was involved again as Holker took the lead for the first time, with his through ball to Jack Elliott allowing the striker to drive past the Hawcoat keeper.

A rare Hawcoat foray into the Old Boys final third saw an angled shot from Joe Blackshaw easily dealt with by the reliable Liam Thompson in the Holker nets. The Stags central defensive partnership of Christian Squire and Jamie Howell dealt with everything Hawcoat threw at them and a break from a defensive clearance and a swift counter-attack via the impressive midfield duo of Warren Purcell and Sam Hayes fed the ball to Elliott, who guided it in to Prosser.

He evaded two challenges inside the box and slotted the ball into the net to make it 4-2 in Holker’s favour.

Hawcoat pulled a goal back in the last minute as Stoker’s shot deceived Liam Thompson, but Holker saw out the remainder of the game to claim the KO Cup and cap a fine season for the Rakesmoor Lane outfit.