MALVERN Town U18s have reached the Herefordshire FA Giantkiller's Cup Final after holding their nerve from the spot to beat Pershore Town U18s.

Pershore led 2-0 in the first-half but Malvern gave themselves a lifeline just before the break when Harry Malcolm and Tyler Brookes linked up well to set up Plumer Osman to lash home.

Pershore thought they had a penalty in the second-half to surely win the cup tie but, luckily for Malvern, the decision was overturned by the assistant referee.

And then, as the game edged into stoppage time, Malvern were awarded a free-kick which Malcolm delivered into a dangerous area for Jayden Makondora to head home and send the tie to penalties. 

Arthur Zenihov made the crucial save in the shootout and Malcolm's penalty sparked jubilant scenes as Malvern won 4-2.

They will now face Inkberrow Eagles in the final of the cup, which will be played at Hereford FC's Edgar Street Stadium. 

"I’m absolutely over the moon for the lads," said manager, Tom Fairclough. "Being 2-0 down for them to then rally and show the determination and character to get back into the game, it was fantastic.

"We didn’t panic at half-time; we knew that we had the quality to go on and get the equaliser

"Massive credit to the players, especially after losing recently in a shoot-out. They showed tremendous character and I could just tell at the start of the shoot-out that we would go on and win this one.

"It’s three League games and a Cup Final at Edgar Street for us to look forward to now.

"A massive shout out to the travelling fans who really got behind us. Their support was really appreciated."