Alex Stapleton double sends Northop Hall into Shield final

SUPPLEMENTARY SHIELD SEMI-FINAL

Welshpool Town 1 (Evans 14)
Northop Hall 2 (Stapleton 50 & 81)

Report: Alan Stubbs (Cymru Sport)

Two goals from Alex Stapleton sent Northop Hall through to the Shield final where they will meet Caernarfon Town.

With one win apiece against each other this season and a draw, both teams desperately sought victory in their fourth meeting of the campaign.

Playing down the slope in the first half, it was important Welshpool made a fast start and they did that.

After 14 minutes Lilywhites top scorer Naomi Evans saw Hall goalkeeper Bethan Hughes slightly off her line when the ball bounced beautifully to her and lobbed home from about 30 yards for her ninth goal of the season.

Not long after Jenna Bell-Tomkinson turned and swivelled past the Northop defence to fire over the bar but that was as good as it was going to get for Welshpool in the first half as Hall kept pushing them back with chance after chance, the impressive Stapleton and dangerous Brygida Gorecka firing wide.

Both players forced keeper Sarah Parkes into making decent saves.

Northop Hall couldn’t believe they were not ahead, never mind being behind, while Welshpool on the other hand were relieved to hear the half time whistle

Half time: Welshpool 1-0

The Flintshire visitors were shooting down the slope in the second half and they started as rapidly as their opponents had in the first.

Taylor Roberts hit the post as the Welshpool goal lived a charmed life, but that would end in the 50th minute when this time Stapleton saw Parkes off her line and lobbed into the net for the equaliser.

It was all Northop Hall pressure with the superb defensive pairing for Welshpool, captain Jo Bliss-Bennett and Lucie Gwilt, trying to keep them at bay.

Hall’s Ellen Sharps and Cody Hughes both hit the woodwork as the travelling side maintained the pressure.

The one attack that Welshpool carried in the second half was Naomi Evans’ super pass to substitute Lilya Smith, who made a dynamic run and extracted a brave save from Hughes.

With nine minutes left it was fitting that player of the match Stapleton would have the final say with a powerful shot that hit the bar that came down on the goal-line and referee Levi Roberts gave the goal which won the game.