COVENTRY City suffered penalty shootout heartbreak in the Birmingham Senior Cup final as John Dempster’s young side were beaten by Stourbridge.
The Sky Blues were unable to break the deadlock in a goalless 90 minutes before two missed penalties in the shootout saw Stour claim a 4-2 win on spot kicks at Walsall’s Bescot Stadium.
City had the ball in the net in the opening 10 minutes as Harrison Nee fired in the rebound from Marco Rus’s initial effort only for the linesman to flag for offside.
Southern League Premier Central side Stourbridge responded with a chance of their own as Joel Kettle headed wide from close range before Luke Bell made a fine save to keep out Jason Cowley’s long range effort.
And Bell then made an outstanding stop as he somehow denied Jaiden White’s powerful effort from just a few yards out with a strong hand.
Coventry went close at the other end when Rus played the ball inside to George Burroughs who saw his strike tipped over the bar by Jonathan Flatt.
And Flatt was called into action again in the opening exchanges of the second period as he produced a smart save to keep out Nee’s effort.
The Sky Blues held on at times as Bell was quick off his line to save from Callum Gittings before Tristen Batanwi made a stunning block to prevent Stourbridge from taking the lead.
However, with neither side able to find the net in regulation time, the game would be decided by penalties.
Nee scored Coventry’s first penalty before Tyler Little levelled for Stour only for Rus to hit the woodwork with his spot kick to hand Stourbridge the advantage.
And Callum Rowe duly put Stour ahead before Burroughs saw his penalty saved and Stourbridge scored their third spot kick to leave Coventry on the brink of defeat.
Despite Josh Reid’s penalty keeping City in the contest, Kettle won the game and the trophy for Stourbridge who stayed perfect from the spot.
