[Devongone]

I kept goal, was a decent penalty-saver in matches, quite a good reader, but lost a final at 18 years of age in a shoot-out. Kept a clean sheet in the game and extra time. 3-3 after five penos each. Three really good penalties and two blazed wildly over, so zero saves. The game went to one player from each team chosen to take kicks until someone missed. The guy I was up against must have been nearly 40, their captain and centre back, with a face sculpted from the Derbyshire hills. He grazed the inside of the post with every kick, he changed posts and there was very little clue in his short run up or his kicking technique. He was calm and unflustered. Our man missed on his fourth peno. The winner was a proper in off the post and I finally got the slightest touch ........ just so I could feel I should have stopped it.

I'm 66. I could tell you about it in absolute detail, how our captain , who was also coming up to 40, was in tears because he felt he let all our young team down - we were mostly 17 -19. The best team lost, but the best penalty taker won. Neither keeper saved a penalty and we'd both played well in the match.

I kept a clean sheet at least three times in finals and ending up losing in extra time! In one I made a load of saves in the second half on Chesterfield's old ground, Saltergate, it was really just me and our centre back holding out. If there was a God he'd have organised us a breakaway winning goal, but there can't be a God. Two goals in the last two minutes of extra time gave us a 3-0 defeat and a runners-up medal we could have done without ........ Football why would anyone get involved?