At Ewen Fields on Friday 16 March, more Manchester County Cup history was made as AFC Middleton lifted the Saturday Amateur Cup for the first time.

Although it was another chilly evening in Tameside, the game was a thrill to watch in front of a great crowd. It was Wythenshawe who started the tie stronger and took the lead on the half-hour mark thanks to Ben Wilde, after Middleton's last ditch defending couldn't prevent the ball from hitting the back of the net, like they did in the opening minutes.

With Middleton still in the game they came out in the second-half with fire in their bellies and scored three goals in quick succession courtesy of Sam Cooke, Lee O'Brien and Liam Murray. 

The equaliser was good build-up play and then skill in the box from O'Brien to create an opening on 50-minutes. The Avro Joint Manager who won the Saturday Challenge Trophy a few weeks back then got on the scoresheet himself, scoring a superb curling effort just after the hour mark, claiming the Player of the Match trophy in the process. And five-minutes later the AFC Middleton Captain completed the scoring with a thunderous strike from close range.

Wythenshawe Reserves, who were competing in their first ever County Cup Final, weren't done as they scored a late goal in stoppage time via a flick-on header from a set piece to make it a nail-biting finish. Middleton held on though to round off an exciting and eventful second-half.

Attendance: 293

Match Officials: Alex Kelly (Referee), Joe Cunningham (Assistant) & Tom Carroll (Assistant, originally 4th Official), Paul Bentley (Replacement 4th Official).

Highlights from the game will be uploaded to our YouTube channel in the coming days, with the dedicated cup page on this website also updated in due course.