Hartley Wintney are through to the final of the Aldershot Senior Cup following a penalty shootout win over the Aldershot Dev. Side, writes David Graham.
With a wind in their favour, the Row had the better of the first half.
They took the lead on 28 minutes when Sam Bartlett robbed a Shots defender on the left and crossed to Conor Lynch, who showed good control before shooting home (1-0).
George Wallace for Hartley had a chance 10 minutes later and his shot was well saved by Alex Walder in the visitors' goal.
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The young Shots were fast out of the blocks after the break and pulled level on 49 minutes.
George Wallace slipped over as he was about to clear and the ball was quickly fed to Toby Nelson, who scored from 12 yards out (1-1).
Two minutes later the visitors went ahead when Joe Lewis-Evans found space and threaded a ball through to Kian Dugdale, who scored from close range (1-2).
Things got even better for the Shots on 55 minutes when a clearance from their defence found Nelson and Harry Thorpe outpacing the Row defence, with the latter shooting home (1-3).
Hartley fought back and reduced the arrears on 69 minutes.
Lynch made good progress down the right and his cross was handled in the penalty area by a Shots defender.
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Aderi Dede stepped up and converted the resulting penalty kick (2-3).
The Row pressed and got reward on 86 minutes.
A Calvin Camara corner was not fully cleared and the ball fell to George Wallace, who blasted home a shot from the edge of the penalty area (3-3).
Hartley pressed for the winner but were denied by a few smart saves from the young Shots keeper, Walder.
The tie was decided by a penalty kick shootout competition, with the Row winning 9-8.
The penalties were mostly of very good quality, with only three of the 20 taken not scored.
Dede, Wallace, Bartlett, Lynch, New, Gavin, Downey, Burchett and Woodyer were successful for the Row.
Stanley, Thorpe, Nelson, Hills, Cooper, Dugdale, Walsh and Sell were successful for Aldershot.
The final will be held at the ground of Aldershot Town on Tuesday, May 6, with a 7.45 pm kick-off.
The final opponents will be the winner of the other semi-final between Westfield and Tadley Calleva, who play on Tuesday, April 8.
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