Tom Wardle Reports as Britton’s hattrick from the bench sends Marine into Liverpool Senior Cup Final…
Second half substitute Louis Britton netted three times in fifteen minutes to place Marine into the Liverpool Senior Cup Final after thrashing Southport 4-1 last night. Jordan Lussey scored the opening goal from the penalty spot, though Tyler Walton levelled things up with a quarter of an hour left to play. Britton returned to the side following a hamstring injury and set up the Mariners’ clash with Runcorn Linnets after a fine spell of finishing in the closing stages.
Marine started the tie brightly and almost took the lead inside the first five minutes. Sol Solomon and Joe Hardy linked up on the edge of the box with the latter firing an effort which was pushed behind for a corner.
From the following set-piece, Joe Bunney directed a looping ball towards the far corner, however Tony McMillan scrambled the danger away.
The match became a fairly even contest until the hosts broke the deadlock in the 37th minute. It came after Hardy’s shot cannoned off the post into the path of Solomon who was hacked to the ground inside the box. Lussey stepped up and sent the ‘keeper the wrong way to net his second in as many games from the spot.
Mark Howarth had a flurry of chances before the break. His most notable from another wicked Solomon corner, where he brought the ball down and attempted to flick the ball over the onrushing McMillan, but he couldn’t connect cleanly with the shot.
Southport pushed for an equaliser after half time and grabbed their reward through Walton’s goal. Niall Watson’s low cross along the six-yard box was tapped in by the forward to unnerve the home crowd.
Although Crosby fans didn’t have to wait long for their side to restore the lead. A fantastic dribbling run by Solomon was capped off by a pull back into the feet of Britton who couldn’t miss from close range.
The striker doubled his tally eight minutes later. A mistake by McMillan was pounced on by the Marine press, where Lucas Weir switched the play to Britton to convert into an open net once more.
It was the same combination that saw Britton one on one with the ‘keeper minutes later, but he blazed his effort over the bar on the this occasion.
However the substitute was able to claim the match ball in stoppage time. Britton collected the ball from the edge of the box and attempted a curling effort which picked out the bottom corner, cementing Marine’s place in the final.
Marine return to league action on Saturday, when they will welcome Nantwich Town to the MTA for a 3pm kick off.
Marine: Passant, Johnson, Bunney (Smith 82), Howarth, Wardle ©, Spittle, Lussey, Doyle, Hardy (Britton 55), Solomon, Weir.
Unused Substitutes: Clark, Mendes, Solomon-Davies.
Southport: McMillan, Oliver, J.Doyle (Munro 45), C.Doyle, Anson ©, Walton, Heath, Quansah, Hmami (Evans 83), Watson, Carberry (Adams 90).
Unused Substitutes: Wade, Bainbridge.
Attendance: 1604.
