Caleb Clinches Late Win in Cup
- daveinnelli
- Aug 8, 2025
- 3 min read
In yet another tight battle between these two sides, it took injury time drama to send The Non-League Reds through to the next round of the Emirates FA Cup. After a 1-1 draw in Manchester at the weekend, AFC remained unchanged, whilst Abbey Hey made a couple of changes to their starting eleven.
It took the home side just 7 minutes to have their first chance, when Elliot Taylor went clean through but fired straight at the keeper. Abbey Hey responded immediately with an effort from Carter that was saved by Parkinson diving to his left. On 20 minutes Egan had the chance from a free-kick for the away side but fired over. Two minutes later they had another chance from the same spot as AFC conceded another foul. This time Carter took it and forced Parkinson to save down low to his left.
The Non-League Reds managed to get through this little period of Abbey Hey pressure and on 32 minutes the ball broke to Joel Skillen just inside the box. He struck it well with his right foot and the ball flew past Beard in the visitors goal to put AFC ahead. This didn't deter the opposition and five minutes later Thompson broke into the area for Abbey Hey but miscued his shot, sending it well off target. As the half drew to a close, the visitors had another effort from Webb that just went narrowly wide. However, AFC worked hard to ensure that they held on to their lead at the break.
The opening stages of the 2nd period saw lots of hard work and possession for both sides, without any chances being created. However, on 56 minutes the visitors drew level when a cross from the left wing was headed home at the back post by Grant, who had got forward from full back. AFC responded positively and Caleb Jones almost found Liam Paton in the box. As the half progressed Cameron Rooney became more and more influential in midfield together with Dan Mahaffy. The keeper saved easily from a Matty Brown header as The Non-League Reds pushed to regain the lead. In the 65th minute, a great strike from 30 yards by Rooney struck the crossbar. Parkinson then started another AFC move from the back and Liam Paton put Elliot Taylor through on goal but his effort just went wide of the upright. Taylor was denied again on 72 minutes when Beard saved well, as the home sides chance count continued to grow.
The visitors continued to look threatening from corners and crosses into the box, however, the AFC defence marshalled well by Owen Fisher-Jones, dealt with most of the threat. Taylor went through again in the 81st minute from a Matty Brown long pass but the keeper saved well to his left. Harry Wright-Ocana and Nathan Giblin continued to get forward to support the attacks in looking for a winner. Louie Lancaster came on to shore things up in midfield and look for the pass that could beat the visitor's high line.
With extra-time looming large and the chance of the dreaded penalty shootout, AFC pushed forward again. Caleb Jones got possession on the right hand edge of the area, he shaped to shoot but came inside on his left and finished brilliantly at the keeper's near post. It was the last effort of the game and one worthy of winning any cup tie.
The Non-League Reds will now face Witton Albion (a) in the next round on Saturday 16th August. This coming weekend is back to League action and an away trip to Cheadle Town, for what promises to be another tough game. Hopefully we'll see you there as all support is appreciated, however, if you can't make the trip look out for the link to live commentary of the game, via our Twitter account.
FINAL SCORE - AFC Liverpool 2 v 1 Abbey Hey
LINE UP - 1. Parkinson 2. Jamieson 3. Giblin 4. Moorcroft (c) 5. Fisher-Jones 6. Brown
7. Jones 8. Mahaffy 9. Taylor 10. Skillen 11. Rooney
Subs Used - Paton, Harry Wright-Ocana, Lancaster
Attendance - 178
Pics courtesy of Dave Williams www.afcliverpool.smugmug.com
and Paul Moran
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