Post by jonw on Feb 13, 2016 22:07:39 GMT
In response to Phil P's query, here is the penalty shoot-out article that appeared in a programme in 2007. We have lost an F.A. Trophy shoot-out with Gateshead since this was written:
IRON – ENGLAND’S PENALTY SHOOT-OUT KINGS!!
The memorable penalty shoot-out win over Havant & Waterlooville last May will live long in the memories of all those Iron fans fortunate enough to have seen it. I had witnessed our very first one back on 4th October 1977…..a more humble 3-2 win over Mersea Island in a Worthington Evans Cup 1st Round Replay at Cressing Road, after a 1-1 draw. Paul Devine, Brian Willsher and Keith Grimsey struck the successful penalties. That match had seemed an eternity ago, and I can barely recall how odd it had seemed at the time to settle a match on penalties rather than opt for another replay. That additional replay practice continued for a number of years after that and on various subsequent occasions we have met Hillingdon (F.A. Cup), Wivenhoe (F.A. Vase), Billericay Town (F.A. Cup) and Collier Row & Romford (F.A. Vase) in second replays. These are, of course, now consigned to the dustbin of history. The last of those on 23rd December 1996 at Collier Row was the only one we lost.
Penalty shoot-outs began to creep into lesser competitions, where replays were of little financial benefit or there was not time to hold them. In 1980-81 we entertained Sudbury Town in the semi-final of the pre-season Sudbury Carpets Cup. The tournament was played to a tight schedule and a winner needed to be found on the night. With the score at 0-0 after 120 minutes, the first 8 penalties were all converted. Keith Grimsey, Kenny Hansell, goalkeeper Billy Rutherford (Paul’s dad) and Roger Turner all netted for Braintree. Then Rutherford saved Sudbury’s final kick and substitute Kevin Tickner stepped up to score the winner with his first kick of the game and send Iron through to what was a rare final in those days.
Our all conquering and free scoring Eastern Counties League Champions of 1983-84 made their first visit to Wivenhoe Town on 14th November 1983 for a Harwich Charity Cup match. Broad Lane was completely undeveloped at this time. It had floodlights and a clubhouse but no stands, concrete paths or even pitch barriers. The Iron Army swelled the crowd behind the ropes to 135 on one of the coldest nights I can ever recall. Having failed to improve on a 1-1 draw at the end of extra-time, penalties were called for. Goalkeeper Tony Kelly was the hero with three saves. Ivan Gooday, Lenny Rayner (his only ‘goal’ in 136 games) and Russell Cotton saw us through to the second round by a 3-2 margin although it was all in vain as with bigger fish to fry that season we later withdrew.
Toward the end of the next season Wisbech Town visited Cressing Road for a replayed Eastern Counties League Cup Quarter Final tie. The two clubs had become fierce rivals following the previous season’s title chase, and after two hours and the score at 1-1 there was nothing to choose between them. All 10 normal penalties were neatly put away, with ours netted by Chris Guy, Nicky Lee, Nick Parsloe, Trevor Goldsmith and John Bibby. Into sudden death Kevin Ketley (now manager at West Bergholt) scored before Dave ‘Scooter’ Harrington dived to pull off a fantastic match winning save at the clubhouse end which sparked a great pitch invasion. I still maintain I was the first to jump on Scooter’s back though with hindsight that’s not a boast I should be proud of!
Strange as it seems now, it was to be another 12 years until the next shoot-out….at least as far as competitive games in England were concerned. On 30th July 1988 we travelled to Maubeuge, a French 3rd Division team near the Belgian border. There we took part in a three team tournament where we also played Valenciennes II that day. At the time they were in their 4th Division, and were the reserve team of a 2nd Division side that later won promotion to the top flight. Both of our matches ended in draws, the first was a goalless encounter with the hosts. It had previously been decided that to determine an overall winner all matches should have an outcome so our game went to penalties and we lost 5-4. The later game with Valenciennes II was drawn 1-1, but we lost that on spot kicks as well, 4-3. Maubeuge won the other game 4-3, consigning us to the bottom of the table. Two successful shoot-outs would have meant that we would have won the trophy!
On 22nd May 1993 we competed in the Jan Havanaar International Tournament in Holland. We excelled in our group but with goal difference not counting we had to take the field again to have a shoot-out only with the hosts, VSV Tonegido, to decide who would top our group and go through to the final. We won that 4-3 thanks to goalkeeper John Cheesewright’s two saves. He also missed a penalty, but Dave Flynn, Gary Collins, Russell Tanner and Neil Grice successfully netted. In the other group there had been a three-way tie for top place, and so there was then a truly bizarre shoot out involving all those clubs which to this day I have never been able to work out. It went on for over 30 minutes before DWO emerged as our opponents. After a goalless final against DWO that also went to a shootout. Dave Flynn scored, but Cheesewright, Collins and Colin Sinclair all missed and DWO won the trophy 3-1.
The Eastern Floodlight Competition Semi-Final at Stansted on 13th May 1997 was farcical. We had finished as top scorers in the Isthmian Division 3, hit 5 or more on 15 different occasions including 9 at Cornard and 11 at Clapton, and scored 193 times in 68 competitive matches. The match at lowly Essex Senior Leaguers Stansted had been seen by many to be a formality, but it didn’t turn out that way and was 2-2 going into the last few minutes of extra time. Then we were awarded a hotly disputed penalty by the eagle eyed linesman, incurring the wrath of the entire home side. He drew the referee’s attention to the fact that the No. 12 had sworn at him, so the referee sent the player off. There were then huge protests about a case of mistaken identity, which was backed up by our own players. The referee eventually gave up, rescinded the red card and blew for Gary Bennett to take the penalty….which he missed! Minutes later the final whistle blew and the sides prepared for the grand finale. All of the first 6 kicks were missed and with supporters shaking their heads in disbelief Stansted missed a crucial kick to put us in the final, 3-2. Just five days later we flew out to Barbados so the final was held over until August when we beat Heybridge 2-1 away.
It was fourteen years between our success at Cressing Road over Wisbech and the next home shoot-out. In November 1999 we drew 1-1 at home to Romford in the Ryman League Cup. We then went through to the next round by a 5-4 margin with successful strikes from Simon Milton, Robbie Reinelt, Lee Owen, Nicky Smith and Mark Keen.
In January 2001 we needed penalties to overcome Rothwell Town in an F.A. Trophy replay at home. Nicky Smith missed but Robbie Reinelt, Gavin Cowan, Mark Jones & Courtney Naylor all scored to give us a 4-3 win.
The biggest shootout prior to the Havant match took place on 12th February 2002, against North Ferriby United at Cressing Road, in an F.A. Trophy 4th Round replay. The stakes were very high and our spot kicks deadly accurate. Nicky Smith, Reinelt, Mark Jones, Nicky Simpson and Bradley Quinton all netted to send Iron through 5-4. That match was seen by 580 paying customers…..considerably more than witnessed the next shoot-out…..24 hours later!
A reserve side had been entrusted with an East Anglian Cup fixture at home to Tiptree United earlier in the season, and would have taken the fixture in the next round at home to Halstead even if it hadn’t been scheduled the day after the North Ferriby game. Only 48 saw this game, which was tied at 3-3 after extra time. Bradley Green and Pete Smith scored our first two penalties while Halstead efforts both went over the bar. Terry Lee made it 3-0 but with Paul Rippingale’s shot being saved it was soon 3-2 with one kick each left. Paul Ansell then converted our final kick to put us through to the next round and a trip to Maldon. We lost that one 4-2 and have not played in the East Anglian Cup since. We also said goodbye to the Eastern Floodlight Competition at the end of this season.
While the reserves are mentioned here because the East Anglian Cup tie was a first team game, we must also give them credit for defeating Haverhill Rovers first team on 2nd May 2006 here in the Uttlesford Charity Cup semi-final. An incredible game finished 4-4 after extra time with us then triumphing 4-2 on penalties. The ressies also defeated Coggeshall here last March in the Tolleshunt D’arcy Cup.
All of which brings us to the drama experienced on 5th May 2007 when Bradley Quinton, David Lee, James Baker and Bertie Brayley fired us into the Conference South Play-Off Final to spark a spontaneous pitch invasion. That was the tenth successful penalty shoot-out in English competitive matches out of ten. In what is supposed to be a lottery, five wins out of ten would be considered reasonable….but ten? Could it be that over the past 30 years Braintree have the most successful record in the country? Can any one else match or better that? Over the coming weeks this amazing statistic will be publicised widely to see if we can get clarification. In the meantime, my apologies for bringing this up as it almost certainly means that we will go ahead and lose the next shoot-out that we are in!
IRON – ENGLAND’S PENALTY SHOOT-OUT KINGS!!
The memorable penalty shoot-out win over Havant & Waterlooville last May will live long in the memories of all those Iron fans fortunate enough to have seen it. I had witnessed our very first one back on 4th October 1977…..a more humble 3-2 win over Mersea Island in a Worthington Evans Cup 1st Round Replay at Cressing Road, after a 1-1 draw. Paul Devine, Brian Willsher and Keith Grimsey struck the successful penalties. That match had seemed an eternity ago, and I can barely recall how odd it had seemed at the time to settle a match on penalties rather than opt for another replay. That additional replay practice continued for a number of years after that and on various subsequent occasions we have met Hillingdon (F.A. Cup), Wivenhoe (F.A. Vase), Billericay Town (F.A. Cup) and Collier Row & Romford (F.A. Vase) in second replays. These are, of course, now consigned to the dustbin of history. The last of those on 23rd December 1996 at Collier Row was the only one we lost.
Penalty shoot-outs began to creep into lesser competitions, where replays were of little financial benefit or there was not time to hold them. In 1980-81 we entertained Sudbury Town in the semi-final of the pre-season Sudbury Carpets Cup. The tournament was played to a tight schedule and a winner needed to be found on the night. With the score at 0-0 after 120 minutes, the first 8 penalties were all converted. Keith Grimsey, Kenny Hansell, goalkeeper Billy Rutherford (Paul’s dad) and Roger Turner all netted for Braintree. Then Rutherford saved Sudbury’s final kick and substitute Kevin Tickner stepped up to score the winner with his first kick of the game and send Iron through to what was a rare final in those days.
Our all conquering and free scoring Eastern Counties League Champions of 1983-84 made their first visit to Wivenhoe Town on 14th November 1983 for a Harwich Charity Cup match. Broad Lane was completely undeveloped at this time. It had floodlights and a clubhouse but no stands, concrete paths or even pitch barriers. The Iron Army swelled the crowd behind the ropes to 135 on one of the coldest nights I can ever recall. Having failed to improve on a 1-1 draw at the end of extra-time, penalties were called for. Goalkeeper Tony Kelly was the hero with three saves. Ivan Gooday, Lenny Rayner (his only ‘goal’ in 136 games) and Russell Cotton saw us through to the second round by a 3-2 margin although it was all in vain as with bigger fish to fry that season we later withdrew.
Toward the end of the next season Wisbech Town visited Cressing Road for a replayed Eastern Counties League Cup Quarter Final tie. The two clubs had become fierce rivals following the previous season’s title chase, and after two hours and the score at 1-1 there was nothing to choose between them. All 10 normal penalties were neatly put away, with ours netted by Chris Guy, Nicky Lee, Nick Parsloe, Trevor Goldsmith and John Bibby. Into sudden death Kevin Ketley (now manager at West Bergholt) scored before Dave ‘Scooter’ Harrington dived to pull off a fantastic match winning save at the clubhouse end which sparked a great pitch invasion. I still maintain I was the first to jump on Scooter’s back though with hindsight that’s not a boast I should be proud of!
Strange as it seems now, it was to be another 12 years until the next shoot-out….at least as far as competitive games in England were concerned. On 30th July 1988 we travelled to Maubeuge, a French 3rd Division team near the Belgian border. There we took part in a three team tournament where we also played Valenciennes II that day. At the time they were in their 4th Division, and were the reserve team of a 2nd Division side that later won promotion to the top flight. Both of our matches ended in draws, the first was a goalless encounter with the hosts. It had previously been decided that to determine an overall winner all matches should have an outcome so our game went to penalties and we lost 5-4. The later game with Valenciennes II was drawn 1-1, but we lost that on spot kicks as well, 4-3. Maubeuge won the other game 4-3, consigning us to the bottom of the table. Two successful shoot-outs would have meant that we would have won the trophy!
On 22nd May 1993 we competed in the Jan Havanaar International Tournament in Holland. We excelled in our group but with goal difference not counting we had to take the field again to have a shoot-out only with the hosts, VSV Tonegido, to decide who would top our group and go through to the final. We won that 4-3 thanks to goalkeeper John Cheesewright’s two saves. He also missed a penalty, but Dave Flynn, Gary Collins, Russell Tanner and Neil Grice successfully netted. In the other group there had been a three-way tie for top place, and so there was then a truly bizarre shoot out involving all those clubs which to this day I have never been able to work out. It went on for over 30 minutes before DWO emerged as our opponents. After a goalless final against DWO that also went to a shootout. Dave Flynn scored, but Cheesewright, Collins and Colin Sinclair all missed and DWO won the trophy 3-1.
The Eastern Floodlight Competition Semi-Final at Stansted on 13th May 1997 was farcical. We had finished as top scorers in the Isthmian Division 3, hit 5 or more on 15 different occasions including 9 at Cornard and 11 at Clapton, and scored 193 times in 68 competitive matches. The match at lowly Essex Senior Leaguers Stansted had been seen by many to be a formality, but it didn’t turn out that way and was 2-2 going into the last few minutes of extra time. Then we were awarded a hotly disputed penalty by the eagle eyed linesman, incurring the wrath of the entire home side. He drew the referee’s attention to the fact that the No. 12 had sworn at him, so the referee sent the player off. There were then huge protests about a case of mistaken identity, which was backed up by our own players. The referee eventually gave up, rescinded the red card and blew for Gary Bennett to take the penalty….which he missed! Minutes later the final whistle blew and the sides prepared for the grand finale. All of the first 6 kicks were missed and with supporters shaking their heads in disbelief Stansted missed a crucial kick to put us in the final, 3-2. Just five days later we flew out to Barbados so the final was held over until August when we beat Heybridge 2-1 away.
It was fourteen years between our success at Cressing Road over Wisbech and the next home shoot-out. In November 1999 we drew 1-1 at home to Romford in the Ryman League Cup. We then went through to the next round by a 5-4 margin with successful strikes from Simon Milton, Robbie Reinelt, Lee Owen, Nicky Smith and Mark Keen.
In January 2001 we needed penalties to overcome Rothwell Town in an F.A. Trophy replay at home. Nicky Smith missed but Robbie Reinelt, Gavin Cowan, Mark Jones & Courtney Naylor all scored to give us a 4-3 win.
The biggest shootout prior to the Havant match took place on 12th February 2002, against North Ferriby United at Cressing Road, in an F.A. Trophy 4th Round replay. The stakes were very high and our spot kicks deadly accurate. Nicky Smith, Reinelt, Mark Jones, Nicky Simpson and Bradley Quinton all netted to send Iron through 5-4. That match was seen by 580 paying customers…..considerably more than witnessed the next shoot-out…..24 hours later!
A reserve side had been entrusted with an East Anglian Cup fixture at home to Tiptree United earlier in the season, and would have taken the fixture in the next round at home to Halstead even if it hadn’t been scheduled the day after the North Ferriby game. Only 48 saw this game, which was tied at 3-3 after extra time. Bradley Green and Pete Smith scored our first two penalties while Halstead efforts both went over the bar. Terry Lee made it 3-0 but with Paul Rippingale’s shot being saved it was soon 3-2 with one kick each left. Paul Ansell then converted our final kick to put us through to the next round and a trip to Maldon. We lost that one 4-2 and have not played in the East Anglian Cup since. We also said goodbye to the Eastern Floodlight Competition at the end of this season.
While the reserves are mentioned here because the East Anglian Cup tie was a first team game, we must also give them credit for defeating Haverhill Rovers first team on 2nd May 2006 here in the Uttlesford Charity Cup semi-final. An incredible game finished 4-4 after extra time with us then triumphing 4-2 on penalties. The ressies also defeated Coggeshall here last March in the Tolleshunt D’arcy Cup.
All of which brings us to the drama experienced on 5th May 2007 when Bradley Quinton, David Lee, James Baker and Bertie Brayley fired us into the Conference South Play-Off Final to spark a spontaneous pitch invasion. That was the tenth successful penalty shoot-out in English competitive matches out of ten. In what is supposed to be a lottery, five wins out of ten would be considered reasonable….but ten? Could it be that over the past 30 years Braintree have the most successful record in the country? Can any one else match or better that? Over the coming weeks this amazing statistic will be publicised widely to see if we can get clarification. In the meantime, my apologies for bringing this up as it almost certainly means that we will go ahead and lose the next shoot-out that we are in!