| 1997 Auto Windscreens Shield Final | |||||||
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| Event | 1996–97 Football League Trophy | ||||||
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| Carlisle United won 4–3 onpenalties | |||||||
| Date | 20 April 1997 | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Stéphane Pounewatchy (Carlisle United)[1] | ||||||
| Referee | J Kirkby (Sheffield) | ||||||
| Attendance | 45,077 | ||||||
←1996 1998 → | |||||||
The1997 Football League Trophy Final, known as the1997Auto Windscreens Shield Final for sponsorship reasons, was the final match of the1996–97 Football League Trophy. It was the 14th season of the competition for teams from theSecond andThird Divisions ofthe Football League. The match was held on 20 April 1997 atWembley Stadium, London, and was contested byCarlisle United, featuring in their second final in the competition and looking for their first win, andColchester United, who were appearing in the final for the first time.
Each club needed to progress through five rounds to reach the final, which included a two-legged area final. Carlisle's progress to the final saw them concede just one goal in their six games, scoring twelve in the process. This included a 0–0 draw in the second leg of their area final againstStockport County. Colchester, however, scored ten goals and conceded five, twice requiringextra time to defeat their opponents. Their run included a 2–0 defeat againstPeterborough United in their area final first-leg before overcoming them 3–0 in the home encounter after extra-time.
After a goalless 90 minutes in the final, the match went to extra time, which also finished without a goal. Carlisle won the game following apenalty shoot-out, with a score of 4–3.
Third Division side Carlisle began their Football League Trophy campaign on 10 December 1996 at home toRochdale in the North section of the competition. They defeated their opponents 2–0, before being drawn againstHull City for the second round. They comfortably dismissed Hull 4–0 on 28 January 1997, before they were handed an area quarter-final againstSecond DivisionYork City atBootham Crescent on 4 February. Again, Carlisle progressed without conceding as they won 2–0. On 18 February, Carlisle again defeated higher league opposition as they beatShrewsbury Town 2–1 atGay Meadow to reach the area final. In the area final first-leg held on 18 March, Carlisle again defeated second division opposition by winning 2–0 againstStockport County. A 0–0 draw in the reverse tie one week later handed the Cumbrians a 2–0aggregate win to hand them a place in the final against Colchester United.[2]
For Colchester United, the road to the final began inCambridge on 10 December 1996, whenSteve Whitton scored an 89th-minute winner againstCambridge United.[3] In the second round, held on 7 January 1997, Second DivisionMillwall hosted Third Division Colchester.Stevie Crawford put the hosts ahead after 10 minutes, butTony Adcock equalised on 53 minutes. Millwall went 2–1 up on 76 minutes throughDave Savage before Adcock scored his second goal of the game two minutes from time to send the tie intoextra time. Just three minutes into extra time,Paul Buckle scored agolden goal for the visitors, his first goal for the club, to put them into the area quarter-finals.[4]
Colchester metBrentford in the southern quarter-final on 28 January when they saw off further Second Division afterPaul Abrahams' 35th-minute goal proved the difference between the two sides.[5] The area semi-final had Colchester drawn at home for the first time in the competition. Held on 18 February, Colchester's loaneegoalkeeper wassent off after just 22 minutes of play againstNorthampton Town, meaningmidfielderRichard Wilkins had to take over goalkeeping duties. With the score goalless at half-time,defenderPeter Cawley was sent on as a substitute and took over in goal. Colchester went 1–0 ahead in the 66th minute from aDavid Greene goal, but Northampton struck back one minute later throughDave Martin. Paul Buckle reinstated the U's advantage 15 minutes from the full-time whistle to put his side into the area final.[6]
In the first leg of the area final againstPeterborough United on 11 March, Colchester fell to a 2–0 defeat atLondon Road,[7] but in the return leg atLayer Road on 18 March, Colchester scored two goals, one fromChris Fry in the first half and one from Paul Buckle in the second-half, to send the game to extra time. With a man advantage after Peterborough hadKen Charlery sent off for a second bookable offence, Paul Abrahams scored the golden goal that would put the Essex side through to theWembley national final.[2][8]
The match between Carlisle United and Colchester United would be the 30th competitive match between the two sides, and their first meeting in the competition. As league rivals, Carlisle had beaten Colchester 3–0 atBrunton Park the same season on 1 October 1996, but were held to a 1–1 draw on 18 January 1997 at Layer Road. Until the game, both sides had an equal number of wins against one another, eleven, with six draws. Colchester's last victory over Carlisle had been in November 1993 when they won 2–1 at Layer Road.[9]
Prior to the game, Carlisle chairmanMichael Knighton threatened to withdraw his team from the final of the competition in protest to Carlisle's share of the television rights money.The Football League responded to his complaints by saying that any such action would result in Carlisle United being thrown out of the league.[1]
The encounter between the two sides drew a Wembley crowd of 45,077 on matchday, and it was also broadcast onSky Sports. The game for 90 minutes of normal time failed to produce many incidents or excitement, althoughAllan Smart was withdrawn through injury on 24 minutes and replaced byRod Thomas for Carlisle. Colchester made one substitution in the initial 90 minutes asAdam Locke replacedDavid Gregory with five minutes remaining.
With the full-time whistle having been blown by the referee, the first real chance fell to Carlisle five minutes into extra time, when Thomas andWarren Aspinall combined to open up the Colchester defence, but Aspinall slipped and the chance was lost. Shortly afterward, Thomas was replaced by young strikerMatt Jansen, becoming the second substitution of extra time after Colchester had replaced Paul Abrahams withKarl Duguid on 91 minutes.
Colchester then introduced midfielder Chris Fry for defenderPaul Gibbs at half-time in extra time, but aspenalties loomed, Colchester had a great opportunity to win the game. Just fifteen seconds from time,Mark Sale's cross reachedfull-backJoe Dunne at the far-post, but he put his shot high over the bar.
In the shoot-out, Colchestercaptain Richard Wilkins stepped up to convert the first spot-kick, before Carlisle'sPaul Conway equalised. Tony Adcock squeezed the ball in past Carlisle goalkeeperTony Caig who had dived the right way.Carl Emberson savedOwen Archdeacon's penalty kick, before David Greene gave his side a 3–1 advantage.Dean Walling then scored for Carlisle as Colchester substitute Karl Duguid stepped up to take his penalty. His effort was tipped onto the post by Caig and saved, a moment which saw a young Duguid break down into tears. Warren Aspinall levelled the score at 3–3 with the next kick for Carlisle.Peter Cawley took Colchester's next penalty, which was again saved by Caig. With a chance to win the game with a conversion, Carlisle captainSteve Hayward scored to seal a 4–3 penalty shoot-out win for the club.[1][10][11]
| Carlisle United | 0–0 (a.e.t.) | Colchester United |
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| Report | ||
| Penalties | ||
Conway Archdeacon  Walling Aspinall Hayward | 4–3 | Wilkins Adcock Greene Duguid Cawley |
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