Tadcaster Albion showed 'spirit in abundance' to sink Sheffield FC and reach NCEL Premier Division play-off final

Two goals down with just 15 minutes remaining having lost three players to injury, it certainly did not look as if it was going to be the Brewers' day when Desmond Okoro missed what could have been a game-changing penalty.

But, Miguel Cassama halved the deficit soon afterwards, then picked out the top corner with a stunning stoppage-time strike to force the tie to a shoot-out.

And the away side then held their nerve to triumph 4-3 on spot-kicks, with player-manager Qualter converting the winner to set up a winner-takes-all showdown with Beverley Town this weekend.

"It’s an unbelievable feeling to be in the play-off final,” the Brewers boss said. “And, the lads deserve this.

"They have worked so hard this week. They have all had to put a shift in and it has been an unbelievable effort by everyone involved.

"That's not necessarily just for today, it's the whole season, they have been incredible and have shown that spirit, which I said before the game would get us through, and I honestly did believe that.

“On Saturday, they showed spirit in abundance and credit to them because they never once gave up.

"At 2-0, having missed a penalty, we could easily have felt that it wasn’t going to be our day, but after we got the two goals I felt confident going into penalties.”

On the impact of powerhouse striker Cassama, whose late heroics cancelled out first-half strikes by Alex Hardwick and Sam Greenhouse, Qualter added: “He looked a handful in the second half, and to score two is unbelievable.

"The first one, he is in the right place at the right time. The second one is an unbelievable strike from the edge of the box, and I am really pleased for him.”

With all NCEL play-off ties destined to go straight to penalties in the event of a draw after 90 minutes, the Albion players had spent plenty of time practicing them in the lead-up to their trip to Sheffield.

And Qualter, while typically modest about his own match-winning contribution, felt that his side’s spot-kick preparations made a significant difference in the end.

"We practiced penalties twice in the week because, when there's no extra-time, you know it could come down to this, and I think that the practice paid off,” he continued.

"It just fell to me to score the winner, but I could easily have missed, and I'm just delighted for the lads that I could help them out in that moment because they deserve this."

In the other semi-final clash, Beverley edged out Barton Town 1-0 in an encounter that featured five red cards.

The East Yorkshire side will now have home advantage for their showdown with Tadcaster this Saturday, with that game set to get underway at Norwood Park at 3pm.