Westfields 1 Hinton 0 aet

ALEX Hunt's strike in the second period of extra time finally settled the Herefordshire Football Association Senior Challenge Cup in favour of holders Westfields in the final at Pegasus Juniors FC.

But Hinton will be thinking that things might have been so different after Jodie Dawe saw his penalty saved by Jon Pugh who then started the breakout from which Westfields grabbed the winning goal.

Hinton had reached the final with wins over higher-graded Bromyard Town, Kington Town and Wellington in the earlier rounds but showed little sign of their giantkilling capabilities in a first half which belonged almost entirely to Westfields.

The holders posed their first serious threat in the 13th minute when Matt Beale was obstructed by Simon Gwynne wide out on the right flank.

Mark Hibbard's free-kick was put behind for a corner and, from Beale's flag-kick, Alec Winstone powered in a shot which was hacked off the line by David Eckley.

Westfields continued to dominate play and thought they had taken the lead in the 32nd minute.

Roy Jordan, an early replacement for veteran Paul Burton, delivered a free-kick from the left which Hinton goalkeeper Dave Spencer could only parry and, in the ensuing scramble, Winstone, who was always a threat at dead-ball situations, thumped the ball home.

Westfields celebrated until referee Kevin Morris noticed the raised flag of linesman Stuart Buchanan and the goal was disallowed.

With Hinton still struggling to break out of their own half, Westfields came close again a minute before the interval when Spencer saved well from a Wayne Hoskins header and Hunt's follow-up effort was put behind for a corner.

Hinton replaced Phil Beavan with Ian Morris shortly after the break but although the Broomy Hill side came more into the game during the second period, the experienced Westfields defensive pairing of Jon Hill and Winstone performed well and gave Pugh in the holders' goal little to do.

Hinton's defensive triumvirate of Phil Glover, Mike Marsden and Andy Mowen also battled away to keep goal chances to a minimum but Mark Davis, who had earlier seen a header well pushed away by Spencer, almost opened the scoring five minutes from the end of normal time.

The former Kington striker got in a goalbound header from Beale's cross but once again Spencer was up to the task, tipping the effort on to the bar before the rebound was booted to safety.

At the other end, however, Gwynne almost won the match for Hinton in the dying seconds of normal time after an excellent run from half-way which ended with the midfielder stabbing his shot narrowly over.

The match finally sparked to life in the first minute of the second period of extra-time.

The lively Dawe raced on to a through ball from Gwynne and sped into the Westfields area where he was brought down by Pugh.

Referee Morris, who had a case for showing Pugh the red card, simply pointed to the spot and the goalkeeper redeemed himself by diving to his left to push out Dawe's spot-kick.

The action immediately transferred to the other end and, after a speedy breakout, Hunt ensured that Westfields would add more silverware to the Hereford Times Herefordshire League Strongbow Cup, which they won the previous week, by cracking a shot into the corner of the net to decide the match.

Westfields: Pugh, Moon (Hopkins, 65 min), Winstone (Jinks, 91 min), Hill, Rivett, Beale, Hoskins, Hunt, Hibbard, Burton (Jordan, 22 min), Davis. Subs not used: Hollingshead, Jones.

Hinton: Spencer, Glover, Marsden, Mowen, Birch (Vaughan, 118 min), Johns (Smalley, 110 min), Semple, Gwynne, Eckley, Beavan (Morris, 47 min), Dawe. Subs not used: Howells, Porter.

Referee: Kevin Morris.

Bookings: Westfields - Moon, foul, 63 min.

Goal: Hunt, 107 min, 1-0.