Playing in their first Arthur Moore cup match since 2009, Polska agonisingly lost out in a penalty shoot out after going toe to toe with Premiership side Shoemakers. Maciek Wisniewski got us off to a perfect start, scoring on 9 minutes after a great move involving Marek Dziopa and Tom Allen. Marcin Krogulec then made it 2-0 on 23 minutes after Radek Gaglewski found him from an initial corner. Shoemakers then showed their Premiership class, with Tim Glenn (2) and Clint Gunn scoring quick fire goals on 27, 28 and 32 minutes to give the hosts what had seemed an unlikely half time lead. Two of the three goals saw Polska lose possession in midfield and not provide enough cover for the defenders. Gotfryd and Kosiorek replaced Osipinski and Wasik at half time, just to give them game time, but no one could have suspected they would get an extra 75 minutes! Tom Allen saw his 53rd minute shot roll harmlessly to the Shoemakers keeper. Allen turned away thinking it was a goal kick, only to miss the keeper letting the effort squirm through his legs to give Polska an unlikely equaliser. Polska then pressed on, and had Wisnieswki not hit the post and then see a one on one with the keeper somehow get snuffed out by the Shoemakers number one, then Polska could and should have taken a 5-3 lead. As it was, Jarek Kwiatkowski gave away a 71st minute penalty which Mark Brown desptached. Then with Polska pressing, Marek Dziopa was adjudged to have been fouled just inside the area, so Radek Gaglewski scored with the resultant 85th minute penalty to put the game into extra time. No more goals followed, although Shoemakers turned the screw in the first period, and with a penalty shoot out taking place, both sides impressively slotted 7 each home, before Shoemakers made it 8-7, only for the unfortunate Kosiorek to sky Polska's 8th spot kick over the bar and put the hosts through. PLAYER RATINGS: SPIDER: Nearly got to one of the penalties, couldn't have done much with the goals, made a great save on 100 minutes. KWIATKOWSKI: Not quite the force of last week, gave away a penalty and spent extra time upfront due to injury. KROL: Looked excellent today, battled solidly for 2 hours and man of the match. WASIK: Had a hard job marking Clint Gunn before being replaced at half time. KROGULEC: Scored Polska's great second goal, full of energy for 2 hours. DZIOPA: Back from injury, and was involved in creating goals from centre forward. ALLEN: Luckily scored his first ever Polska goal, but did well despite tiring during a gruelling 2 hours. SZCZYPZK: Put some timely tackles in in the middle, seemed to tire final half hour but scored a good penalty. OSIPISNKI: Good, battling first 45 before being replaced half time. WISNIEWSKI: Took his first goal well, but will be disappointed not to put 2 second half chances away. Best start to a Polska season by a Polska forward since 2001. GAGLEWSKI: Scored a cool 85th minute penalty and created Polska's second, good game. SUBS: GOTFRYD: Took over the marking duties of CLint Gunn, and did really well on his Polska debut. KOSIOREK: Unlucky to miss the decisive spot kick, but had played well for the previous 75 minutes. |