ZACH Hargreaves grabbed a dramatic late winner to guide Lancashire in to the second round of the English Schools FA Boys Under 18s Inter County Trophy.

With extra time looming, the Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School pupil beat West Midlands keeper Matthew Hill with a powerful strike from the edge of the area.

It completed a fine comeback for the Red Rose county who went behind to a stunning 40-yard lob from Dudley College’s Alex Knight who opened the scoring after just four minutes. Lancashire drew level after 28 minutes when a free-kick from left-back Ben Anderson from Kirkham Grammar School was adjudged to have been carried over his line by Hill.

Lancashire Under 18 Schoolboys: Adam Scott-Rattray (Blackpool Sixth Form College), Ben Anderson (Kirkham Grammar School), Dan Brady (Ormskirk School Sixth Form College), Craig Richardson (Clitheroe Royal Grammar School), James Corbutt (Cardinal Newman College), Joe Stanley (Ormskirk School Sixth Form College), Callum Preece (Blackpool Sixth Form College), Josh Emmott (Alder Grange Sixth Form College), Callum Darcy (Clitheroe Royal Grammar School), Kyle Preece (Blackpool Sixth Form College), Chris Clinch (Myerscough College), Zack Hargreaves (Bacup And Rawtenstall Grammar), Tom Southern (Clitheroe Royal Grammar School), Ian Moss (Preston’s College), Kai Leyland (Blackpool Sixth Form College).

Lancashire Under 18 Boys 2 West Midlands Under 18 Boys 1 Order of scoring: 0-1 04 minutes Alex Knight (Dudley College) 1-1 28 minutes: Ben Anderson (Kirkham Grammar School) 2-1 80 minutes: Zack Hargreaves (Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School) On a stormy night on the 3G pitch at the JMO Sports Park, Skelmersdale, Lancashire and West Midlands Under 18 Boys, despite the strong wind, were able to provide a feast of football for the sparse crowd which included the Chairman of English Schools’ F.A. Mike Spinks.

Lancashire, playing against the wind in the first half, were able to create a few early chances which they failed to take and were caught by a long through ball in the fourth minute of the game when Alex Knight was able to lob the Lancashire keeper from 40 yards. Lancashire continued to play well against the strong wind, restricting West Midlands to few chances, and levelled the scores after 28 minutes when a free-kick from left-back Ben Anderson was judged by the assistant referee to have been carried over his line by the West Midlands goalkeeper Matthew Hill.

With the strong wind in their favour in the second half, Lancashire were confident of going on to win the game. However, West Midlands competed well against the wind and created several goal scoring opportunities as did Lancashire. With both goalkeepers performing heroics to keep the scores level, the game was heading for extra time until Zack Hargreaves scored what proved to be the winning goal with a powerful deflected shot from the edge of the penalty area which deceived the West Midlands goalkeeper.

Credit to both teams for providing an entertaining game in difficult conditions. Lancashire await the draw for the second round, to be published on the ESFA Website on Monday 16 November at 1 p.m.

TEAM MANAGER: PAUL BRADLEY ASSISTANT MANAGER: ANDY BUCKINGHAM ASSISTANT MANAGER: ALISTAIR MOLLEN PHYSIOTHERAPIST: LUKE SMITH