A SEASON of ifs and buts possessed a cruel sting in the tail for Kington Town at Wolverhampton Casuals FC on Tuesday night, WRITES MIKE BERRY.

Kington, who have made impressive inroads under Shaun Harris since joining the West Midlands League two years ago, were on course to add the Division One cup to last season’s Division Two title when they led Worcester Raiders 2-0 at half-time in the final.

They wouldn’t have been flattered to have gone in at the break four or five goals to the good but their profligacy in front of goal came back to haunt them in a stupefying second half that saw Raiders pillage a famous 3-2 win in time added on.

Brian Dyer limped off after five minutes to force Kington into an early rejig but they appeared to take it in their stride.

Substitute Nick Layton had a shot cleared off the line and Tom Rowlands hit the bar before Callum Davies drilled in a 32nd minute opener.

Tom Parry then picked himself up off the floor to double the lead from the penalty spot following brilliant work from Liam Jones.

But Dyer’s aerial absence became more discernible as Raiders turned the tables after half-time, Charlie Martin pulling back a 47th minute reply and Nick McPhearson levelling just past the hour.

Kington, who had secured an epic 4-3 extra-time win over St Martins in last Saturday’s semi-final (goals from Parry, Dyer, Rowlands?and Geraint Lloyd) suddenly looked drained and keeper Bryan Kirkham was forced into a series of agile stops.

With extra time beckoning, Davies and Rowlands both spurned gilt-edged opportunities to become the hero and Martin then broke Kington's hearts when he uncorked a stunning 92nd-minute volley.

Kington boss Harris admitted: “We are devastated. It is not an excuse but we played 120 minutes on Saturday and maybe that was a factor up the hill in the second half.

"We didn’t appear to have the energy to clear our lines at times.

“But not putting away enough of our chances has been the story of our season and it has cost us again.”