Double delight as Burntwood Dragons on fire in the County Cup
It was double delight for Burntwood Dragons who became the first youth team in Staffordshire County Cup history to lift the trophy in successive seasons.
The club’s under-17s side lifted the Staffordshire County Youth Challenge Cup last week after a convincing 4-0 victory over Blurton Arrows.
Dragons, managed by long-time boss Steve Parton, lifted the under-16s cup 12 months ago.
And this time around they proved too strong for the Potteries side and were on top from kick-off to final whistle in the final, held at Brocton FC’s Silkmore Lane ground in Stafford.
Man-of-the-match Luke Kellas opened the scoring for the Dragons just two minutes into the clash, cutting in from the right and firing a fierce low shot beyond the diving Arrows keeper.
Dragons rattled the crossbar through striker Toby Smith soon after and then missed a penalty.
But they refused to be thrown off their stride as they extended their lead late in the half when winger Kellas combined with striker Smith before the wideman’s attempted cross looped over the despairing keeper into the back of the net, to register his second goal of the game.
The second half progressed in similar vein with Dragons overpowering their rivals in midfield and looking comfortable on the ball.
Arrows tried to push for a goal to get themselves into the game but instead found themselves picked off by the Dragons soaked up the pressure before on the counter-attack.
The Burntwood boys scored a stunning third when the ball broke to Declan Riley, who smashed a thunderous left-footed volley over the keeper from 25 yards. From then on, the result was beyond doubt and Dragons could have extended their dominance but for two fine saves from the Blurton keeper.
Late on though, Dragons and striker Smith got their just reward when a goalmouth scramble saw the frontman force the ball home to complete the victory in front of more than 200 spectators.
