Manager Andy Coote admitted he would have been ‘furious’ if his Achilles side had surrendered a three-goal lead in the CNet Training Suffolk Senior Cup Final, writes Nick Garnham.
Achilles led Cornard United 3-0 as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes, before winning 4-3 following four goals in time added on in a thrilling finish to Friday night's final at Portman Road.
Coote said: "That was typical of us; when we are winning 4-1, we want to score five or six, but we got caught out and if it had ended up 4-4 I would have been furious with them. It certainly made me nervous.
"At 3-0 it looked like game over, but then they got one back before we then scored another straightaway.
"We over-committed and, credit to them, the players they brought on made an impact."
Experienced duo Andy Crump and Dave Grimwood were both playing their final matches before hanging up their boots, and Coote said he will now have to rebuild his squad.
"Andy Crump and Dave Grimwood have been brilliant for Achilles and I would like to think I can talk them round to change their minds, but if not I am going to have to do some work in the summer to bring players in for next season," he said.
Cornard United Joint Player-Manager Matt Grove, who along with Michael Schofield was taking charge for the last time, said he was proud of the way they fought back.
"If it had been five minutes longer who knows we could have nabbed another and made it 4-4 and taken it to penalties.
"The boys dug deep and did really well towards the end and we can walk off the pitch with our heads held high.
"I have no idea what happened; it was one of those crazy things that has been happening in football this week with Liverpool and Tottenham and we kind of thought it could be happening again here.
"We turned it on towards the end and there were a few tired legs on Achilles part. We put away a few of our chances but we had a lot more chances that we didn't put away so it could have been a different story today."
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