Crowds at Belper’s Silver X Stadium were treated to a fantastic game of football on Sunday afternoon, as Britannia beat Edgehill 3-2 in the DCFA Sunday Senior County Cup Final.

It was a truly nail-biting game that had fans on their  seats from the get-go, with Britannia winning an early free-kick in just the second minute.

Britannia forward Tomas Poole was looking extremely dangerous at the start of the game, regularly finding space in-behind the Edgehill defenders.

Poole’s persistence paid off too – in the 10th minute, a long-ball from Britannia was flicked on by Callum Lytham, and Poole latched onto the through ball, producing a wonderful first-time finish that nestled in the bottom right corner of the Edgehill.

Many teams heads would have dropped after going behind just 10 minutes into a cup final, but not Edgehill’s.

The team in red immediately started to put pressure on Britannia, with Phil Whieldon looking especially threatening on the left-hand side, regularly combining well with Louie Briscoe, but they were unable to find an equaliser.

Britannia however eventually doubled their lead. In the 39th minute, thanks to a bit of miscommunication between Rangers goalkeeper Ben Gough and defender Charlie Rumin, Britannia’s Billy Page was able to win the ball on the left of the box, and lobbed Gough who was caught off his line.

Britannia took their two goal lead into the half-time break with them, and it looked like Edgehill had a mountain to climb.

Edgehill started the second-half quite promisingly, once again finding some joy down the left-hand side, but they were dealt yet another blow in the 58th minute after Lewis Campbell was sent off following a clash with a Britannia defender which led to a scuffle involving multiple players.

The tough task Edgehill had been facing was just made even tougher, but they kept their heads held high, and finally made a breakthrough in the 66th minute.

Louie Briscoe’s absolutely stunning free-kick swerved beautifully into the top right corner of the Britannia goal, giving their keeper no chance at all – game on.

Naturally, Edgehill were piling men forward in search for that all important equaliser, and Britannia were able to make the most of the extra space which was opening up.

In the 76th minute, Billy Page grabbed his second of the game, with a close-range volley that he smashed into the bottom corner, the goal that would eventually win his side the game.

The 10-men of Edgehill continued to battle on, and in the 85th minute pulled another one back – a corner was sent high into the box and after a scramble, they were able to poke it into the net.

Edgehill tried with all their might to pull the game back level, but it was eventually too-little-too-late, and Britannia held on to win the game 3-2.

Despite their best efforts, it was Man of the Match Billy Page’s two goals that took the cup away from Edgehill, and after a fantastic game of football, it was Britannia who finished the day as the 2019 winners of the DCFA Sunday Junior County Cup.