Tom Murphy reports from The Joseph Russell Stadium…
Finlay Sinclair Smith sent the Mariners into their second successive Liverpool Senior Cup Final after overcoming Prescot Cables by one goal to nil.
A cool finish from Sinclair Smith after eight minutes put Marine ahead after an intense start in Prescot.
Several chances followed with Owen Robinson coming close from distance, a brilliant save from Mitchell Allen denied him.
Owen Windsor was also denied by the Prescot keeper, who had made a nice run in behind the defence.
Up the other end, a super stop on the line from Chris Doyle kept out a powerful Francis Smith shot from close range.
Just before the interval, Sinclair Smith almost added his second but Allen again stopped the shot with a solid save. The ball then fell to Bobby Grant who failed to hit the target.
Nonetheless, the Mariners took a one goal advantage heading into half time after a very fast paced first period.
Despite creating fewer major chances in the second half, Marine remained on top.
Cables keeper Allen again made some brilliant saves to prevent the score line from getting any worse for his side.
Robinson and Butler came closest in the second for Neil Young’s side but Prescot survived and the game was brought to a nervy finish.
When changes for both sides flooded in, Cables began to grow into the game and enjoyed getting forward deep into the Marine half.
The home side however, were unable to find a shot on target and Bobby Jones remained unscathed in goal.
A late free kick won on the edge of the area by Cables only resulted in finding the hands of Jones after he effortlessly plucked the ball from the sky.
With the cup final secured against City of Liverpool, the Mariners must return their focus to league action where they play Atherton Collieries in the final home game of the season on Saturday.
Prescot Cables: 1 Mitchell Allen, 2 Dominic Cain, 3 Matthew Devine, 4 Nathan Koehler, 5 James Devine, 6 Francis Smith (Anthony Donaldson 66′), 7 Jack Goodwin, 8 Ethan Devine, 9 Charlie Glennon (Alex McNally 63), 10 Thomas Owens, 11 Kyle Sambor (James Foley 46′)
Unused Subs: 15 Liam Hollett, 22 Ryan McMahon.
Marine: 1 Bobby Jones, 2 Scott Butler, 3 Matty Waters, 4 Jon Routledge (Liam Nolan 78), 5 Chris Doyle, 6 Josh Wardle, 7 Finlay Sinclair-Smith, 8 Louis White (Harvey Gregson 64′), 9 Bobby Grant, 10 Owen Windsor (Sol Solomon 82′), 11 Owen Robinson
Unused Subs: 13 Richard Cowderoy.
Liverpool County FA Senior Cup Semi Final
Tuesday 16th April 2024
Kick-off: 7.45pm
The Joseph Russell Stadium
Marine Man of the Match: Chris Doyle
