Goals from Callum Petch, George Doyle, and a last-gasp Alfie Wilkinson winner knocked the holders out of the cup, whilst The Weavers have now reached the final of this competition for the first time.

Early on, Pontefract caused the Golcar defence problems with some javelin-like long throws from Jack Greenhough. Them long throws were the source of an early chance for the visitors as Harry Spratt’s effort at the back post went just over the bar in the first five minutes.

It seemed like our visitors had some more athletes who had experience in other sports as the referee pointed to the spot after 20 minutes when Mohssen Mohamed did a fall that you would see off a springboard after very minimal contact from Sam Pashley. Jack Boyle kept his nerve in the now fiery atmosphere to give The Colls the lead.

The penalty decision was the spark to ignite one of the great nights at The Skye Direct Stadium as The Weavers were determined not to let a dubious call halt their journey. Minutes after the penalty, Ryan Hall’s free-kick hit the bar, and not long after, the Golcar players had their heads in their hands as they couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net following a goalmouth scramble.

But on the stroke of halftime, Golcar got a deserved equaliser. A perfectly weighted ball by Alfie Wilkinson evaded the Colliers' back line to find Callum Petch, who showed great composure to beat Heath Richardson.

Just after the restart, Golcar broke down the right side, and Ryan Hall’s effort on the goal line looked to have been blocked by Greenhough’s arm, but no penalty was given.

The Golcar faithful didn’t have to rue that chance for much longer as The Village scored a brilliant goal. George Doyle’s headed flick-on found Wilkinson, who showed great poise to allow Doyle to overlap him on his right, and then he delivered another perfectly weighted ball for our number 9 to fire into the far corner.

An energetic Golcar nearly went 2 up straight after scoring. Petch found himself on the right, and his effort forced a brilliant save from Richardson, who tipped it onto the bar.

The Weavers were running like a team full of Duracell Bunnies but eventually, their batteries went flat, and they were pegged back into their own half. Harry Stead was forced to make a series of fine stops at his near post from the left side of the box as Golcar held on to the lead.

The Golcar resistance was eventually broken seven minutes from time as Mikey Dunn’s fierce strike blasted Pontefract level.

Penalties seemed a certainty as Ashley and Gavin Connor even brought on experienced penalty-taker Daniel Naidole as we entered stoppage time…

Then it happened.

Wilkinson was delightful all evening. In a tense cup semi-final, his technical qualities created our two goals up to that point.

But this was his moment.

The ball being launched into the box and the close-range stab that made the ball go into the top corner was almost reminiscent of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s goal in the 1999 Champions League Final. As the Golcar faithful walked out of the Skye Direct Stadium high on adrenaline, what Sir Alex Ferguson said after Solskjaer’s goal perfectly summed up their thoughts:

“Football, bloody hell”.

Golcar: Stead, Pashley, Lawrence, Field (North, 62), Clee, Russon, Clegg, Wilkinson, Hall (Naidole, 90), Doyle (Kilbourne, 93), Petch.

Goals: Petch (45), Doyle (54), Wilkinson (93).

Attendance: 228.