By Tom Eves
Bootle FC advanced in the FA Trophy after knocking out Widnes FC in a penalty shootout.
Bootle produced a mirror image result to progress after edging out Trafford on penalties in the previous FA Trophy qualifying round.
Today’s third qualifying round started evenly with neither side really causing each other problems.
Perhaps the biggest chance of the half was from Ben Hodkinson who saw his strike tipped over the bar but a comfortable save nonetheless.
By the end of the first half, the spectators at the Berry Street Garage stadium had seen a very physical game with a total of four yellow card.
It was a different 45 minutes that followed with both sides getting more involved in the attacking front.
James Steele opened the scoring and gave the visitors the lead after a quality first touch to control the ball before taking it around Bootle keeper Ryan Jones and slotting the ball into the net.
Bootle responded well working better as a unit and passing the ball with more accuracy to progress further up the pitch.
They almost equalized a short time later through Matty Hamilton who just rattled the crossbar.
A barrage of shots followed after a Bootle corner but Widnes shot-stopper Owen Wheeler did well to keep his side in the lead.
Not much really followed after this as Bootle continued to push on to find their equalizer, until the 90th minute when their job was successful.
Jordan Wynne leaped up to convert Bootle’s corner and save his side from crashing out.
To decide who would progress in the competition, the game went straight to penalties.
The only penalties missed in the shootout came via Widnes who missed both their first and last penalties.
Bootle stopper Ryan Jones saved Widnes’ final penalty by pushing the ball onto the left post which then proceeded to travel across the goal line and bounce off the right post.
A crazy finish to the tie, Bootle will be delighted to progress after such a tight game.
