Cherries under-21s suffer Hampshire Senior Cup final penalty shoot-out heartache

Goalkeeper Alex Tokarczyk was the Southern Premier team's hero, leaping to his left to repel substitute Antonio Diaz's effort to deny Cherries the trophy – even though they didn't concede a goal in this year's competition.

The Basingstoke number one had saved from Jack Simpson earlier in the shoot-out, with Cherries number one Callum Stanton then clawing away George Bennett's 12-yard strike to send the penalty contest into sudden death.

The non-leaguers began with a real attacking devil laced through their game.

Midfielder Dan Collier sliced wide from Bennett's left-wing corner inside the first 60 seconds. And a measure of the confidence sweeping through this Basingstoke side came when veteran centre-half Matt Partridge pounced on Kyle Taylor's casual touch to fire an opportunistic, dipping 30-yard shot narrowly over Stanton's bar.

Stanton, though, didn't have to wait long to be called into action.

Another cross from buccaneering Town wing-back Bennett found Aaron Jarvis, six yards out and hitting a low first-time effort that Cherries 'keeper Stanton pushed round his right-hand post.

Cherries' attempts to impose their crisp, incisive passing brand of football on the occasion were being suffocated by a blanket of blue shirts, their opponents' stubborn back five protected by four equally unyielding bodies in front of them.

Basingstoke certainly didn't want for ingenuity, though. On 13 minutes Jarvis and Michael Atkinson traded passes, ultimately working the space for Nana Owusu to deliver expertly from the left.

Right-back Marcus Johnson-Schuster had galloped forward to meet the cross, his strike thudding into the bar.

The rebound fell perfectly for Ashleigh Artwell but the apparently startled forward couldn't get his body over the ball, limply directing his header over the top of an open goal.

Attacker Taylor then turned defender to scramble the ball behind after Robert Atkinson had been first to the punch when a corner was struck into the heart of Cherries' box.

And from the resultant set-piece, a passage off play that summed up what had gone before.

Cherries saw out the danger and promptly charged upfield, led by Charlie Seaman. As he crossed halfway, Seaman had three red and black shirts in support, with only two defenders blocking his route to goal.

The right-back, though, deliberated too long and had his pocket picked by the decidedly brisk, recovering Atwell.

Within seconds Owusu was powering past Simpson and slipping in Jarvis, whose effort was smothered by the bravely advancing Stanton.

Owusu's sizzling 25-yarder then forced a full-stretch Stanton to tip over, before Alex Dobre twice tried his luck from similar distance for Cherries.

The Romanian skied his pair of efforts but Jake McCarthy came somewhat closer to striking gold with a wonderful, rising hit on the half-hour that clipped the top of the bar on its way over.

If that rattled Basingstoke, then they disguised it pretty well. Artwell had a close-range shot excellently blocked by Simpson at the end of a move the attacker had started by nipping in front of the sliding Baily Cargill in the centre circle.

Shortly after, the otherwise uber-composed Cargill flashed an effort narrowly wide, after Matt Worthington's corner was cleared and then recycled for Mikael Ndjoli to cross from the right.

Basingstoke thought they had grabbed the advantage on the stroke of half-time but Robert Atkinson had drifted a fraction offside when he touched home persistent pest Owusu's wicked left-sided free-kick.

McCarthy made way for Joe Quigley at the break, as boss Mark Molesley sought to beef up his team's attacking threat.

And within five minutes Cherries had half a chance to force a breakthrough. Ndjoli was felled 20 yards from goal by David Ray – the Basingstoke skipper cautioned for his troubles.

Worthington's low free-kick crashed into the wall but Cargill was swiftly onto the scraps, the defender's snap-shot drawing a smart save from Tokarczyk.

Quigley made his presence felt on 63 minutes, spinning his marker and sending a low strike skipping past the upright.

Steadily, Basingstoke were tiring. Accordingly, Cherries were finding a tad more space in the final third – and as we approached the end game things became increasingly stretched.

Owusu, now operating from the right, headed wide after Artwell had dashed in behind Ndjoli to lift the ball to the back post.

Indeed, it wasn't only the Hampshire team feeling the effects of their night's work. Ollie Harfield momentarily succumbed to cramp after sending in a cross from the left that required Ray to coolly head behind from underneath his own bar.

For all the tired legs, the action continued apace. Cargill's perfectly-timed last-ditch tackle prevented Jarvis from going through one-on-one with Stanton.

And Taylor was immensely grateful to his keeper for palming over Jarvis's blast after the midfielder's slip had allowed the Basingstoke man to canter forward unchecked from halfway

Stanton had the mother of all reprieves deep into three minutes of stoppage time when he needed a second grab to keep out Owusu's 25-yard swerving strike, the linesman ruling the ball hadn't crossed the line, in the face of some vociferous Basingstoke appeals to the contrary.

Ultimately, it didn't matter, goalkeeper Tokarczyk having the last word to settle the dramatic shoot-out and the destiny of this season's Hampshire Senior Cup.