In 1503, Henry VIII left his six wives and declared war on France. On the 2nd of February, 2025, Market Bosworth declared war on Fleckney Athletic in a semi-final county cup draw that went to penalties.

On a lovely sunny day, AFC Market Bosworth prepared for what was a massive game ahead, their first, but definitely not last, semi-final fixture. The game started in the opposition’s favour, as they seemed to dominate the first couple of minutes, testing AFC Market Bosworth’s defence and trying to break down any potential threats. Around 15 minutes into the game, Fleckney suffered a straight red card which could have been seen as grievous bodily harm. Bosworth didn’t let this bother them and stuck together, as we’ve seen in the past few games. Eventually, Bosworth broke away on a stunning passage of play, which included around 10 passes. It ended with Reuben S down the right-hand side, who slotted the first goal beautifully into the bottom left corner, Pedri-esk if I’m being completely honest , AFC Market Bosworth 1-0 Fleckney Athletic.

After this, Bozzy dominated for the next 10 minutes, introducing wide men Reece M and Reuben S, and finding our No. 11, Phil C, who were all receiving pinpoint passes from our ever dependable captain, Rory H. Unfortunately, one of Fleckney’s attackers picked up the ball inside our box and was brought down for a penalty, which was coolly slotted home to equalise.

HT: Market Bosworth 1-1 Fleckney Athletic

One substitution was made at halftime, and some positional changes were also made. An inspirational halftime team talk was delivered, which was needed to get the team going again. As the whistle blew, Bozzy were already on top, making triangles all over the pitch and not letting the opposition touch the ball for the opening minutes. Eventually, the ball found its way to Reece M, who took a quick glance at Hamesy, who was bolting down the left-hand side. He pinged a 30-yard pass that landed perfectly at his feet. Without hesitation, Hamesy took a sweet touch and smashed the ball into the top bins, which clipped the crossbar to perfection, AFC Market Bosworth 2-1 Fleckney Athletic.

The opposition reacted well to this goal and around 15 minutes later, found their left winger, who awkwardly brought the ball down and placed it into the goal, 2-2. This lifted Fleckney’s mood, and again they found their left winger, who was brought down around the six-yard box and won another penalty for Fleckney. The same penalty taker from earlier stepped up again and, regrettably, struck another well-taken penalty into Bozzy’s top right corner, AFC Market Bosworth 2-3 Fleckney Athletic.

As the game was edging closer to the end, with about five minutes left to play, Bozzy’s gaffer made a few substitutions and changed the formation to try and catch the opposition off guard. Without a doubt, this worked, as Reuben S won a foul 20 yards out. A free kick taken by our captain, Rory H, found its way to our two strikers, who scrambled and got a touch on the ball. Eventually, the ball ended up in one of the opponent’s hands, resulting in a penalty in the dying seconds. Our captain, Rory H, confidently stepped up to take the penalty and, though a great save from the goalkeeper denied the goal, he couldn’t hold onto the ball. It fell to Rory H’s feet again, and he confidently placed the ball in the back of the net, AFC Market Bosworth 3-3 Fleckney Athletic.

This put Bosworth on the front foot, and they searched for the winner. As the ball went out of play, Bozzy’s coaches subbed on their penalty takers. Just as Bozzy were searching for a late winner, the referee blew his whistle for full time, and a penalty shootout was upon us.

Rory H had the opening penalty and, once again, scored without a doubt. Fleckney’s penalty taker, who had scored two in the game, stepped up confidently to level the shootout. However, the ball went over the bar, giving Bozzy the upper hand, 1-0 Bozzy. A cheeky penalty from our center half, Charlie A, was placed into the net, and Fleckney’s second penalty was also put away, 2-1 Bozzy. The third round saw Phil step up and put it down the middle, while the opposition scored again, making it 3-2 Bozzy. Both teams missed their fourth penalty, keeping the score at 3-2 Bozzy. As Bosworth missed their fifth penalty, Fleckney equalized, 3-3.

Our goalscorer, Hamesy, stepped up for the final penalty and confidently hit it into the back of the net, 4-3 Bozzy. One more miss from the opposition would declare the finals for Bosworth, and gloriously, that’s exactly what happened, as Fleckney’s last penalty was heroically saved by our goalkeeper, Rhys H.

A massive win from the lads sees us into the county cup final in our first season as a senior team. A massive well done to the boys for sticking together until the end and showing the determination to win and fight for a massive county cup final day. Also, big up to all the spectators and players that came down to watch.

Finally, congratulations to our man of the match and goalkeeper, Rhys H, who made some crucial and exciting saves to ensure we had a big day out.

UTB!