Bradley Sach netted an injury time equaliser, then slotted home the winning spot kick in the shootout as Canvey Island defeated Hornchurch 4-2 on penalties following a 1-1 BBC Essex Senior Cup Final draw at Colchester United FC.

Charlee Adams had put Hornchurch in front with a superb 30-yard strike, which looked like being the winning goal until Sach’s close-range finish bounced into the net, sending the Canvey supporters into raptures and the final to an exciting spot kick decider. “I’m extremely proud of the players, of the club, of the supporters,” reacted Canvey Manager, Brad Wellmen.

“It’s been a tough season for us, and this BBC Essex Senior Cup has kept us going. We’ve had some exciting games in that, and to get to the final was a good achievement in itself. But we were confident coming into it against Hornchurch and came off the back of a good result on Saturday.”

“So, we were full of confidence. You remember your wins at the end of your career. It’s great for the players and the club and the community. And we’ve always said: one in, all in. And I think you can see from the support tonight, it’s been absolutely fantastic. I’m proud of everyone.”

Following a competitive, cagey opening quarter of an hour, Chris Harris’s 17th-minute effort flew over the crossbar after some tidy build-up play from Canvey. Team mate Kane Gilbert hooked another chance over his shoulder from ten yards, which dropped just over the bar, and Harris was involved again when he headed just over from close range as Canvey started to apply some pressure.

In Hornchurch’s first serious attempt on 24 minutes, Giles Phillips’s header was no trouble for goalkeeper Bobby Mason as it bounced straight to him. Then, at the other end, Sach went very close as he carried the ball to just outside the Hornchurch penalty area and his long-ranger screeched past ‘keeper Mason Terry’s post.

Just beyond the half-hour, the Urchins thought they’d broken the deadlock. From a left-flank dead ball, a delivery was nodded back across goal to Phillips, who headed into the net. However, the Assistant Referee’s flag was up for offside. They did move into a lead three minutes before the break, though, Adams putting them ahead with an excellent drilled finish.

Canvey emerged from the interval in search of an equaliser, and they enjoyed the better of the opportunities. Emmanuel Adebiyi’s firm shot from outside of the box looked goalbound, but it was blocked by a defender, and Jeremy Santos-Hurera’s vicious free kick from the corner of the penalty area was beaten back out by the strong fists of Terry. Another ball was threaded into the goalmouth, but substitute Qudus Tinubu got it stuck between his feet, and the chance was cleared.

On 71 minutes, Hornchurch’s Sean Scannell progressed down the left and squared into the box to Tom Wraight, but the ball hit his foot and went straight to ‘keeper Mason. But there was still defending for the Urchins to do and, seven minutes from time, there was an important tackle by Captain Ryan Scott to prevent substitute Finley Dorrell from getting a sight of goal.

However, Canvey made the breakthrough their efforts had merited on 91 minutes when a low corner kick made its way into the danger zone. Sach didn’t make a clean contact with it, but the ball bounced over Terry and into the net to set-up penalties. “A minute earlier, you’re sort of dejected because I thought we’d performed really, really well tonight and we deserved something from the game. It was a bit of a scrappy goal, but it takes that,” said Wellmen.

“And once we got to 1-1, we were confident. We’ve won two penalty shootouts getting to the final, and we have that air of confidence about us in terms of what us taking a penalty is. It’s a lottery, but we came out on top.”

Hornchurch missed two of their first three spot kicks but all four of Canvey’s were flawless, punctuated by Sach. Wellmen added: “Sachy’s been fantastic for us for the last couple of years, and he’s had a tough period the last few weeks, not being able to get that goal. And we’re trying to keep him confident. He’s been playing and it takes moments like this. Hopefully that’ll kick him on and we’ll go and get the results we need for the rest of the season.”

“I think that, over the 90 minutes, I’d say we deserved something from the game and we’ll go and take victory. You’ve got to celebrate these moments because there’s a lot of low moments as well in football. And we’ll go and celebrate them and enjoy them.”

Canvey Island: Bobby Mason, Kane Gilbert (Qudus Tinubu, 56), Thomas Stephen, Jimmy Wallace (Finlay Dorrell, 69), Ollie Parsons, Elliott Ronto, Conor Hubble (C), Bradley Sach, Jeremy Santos-Hurera, Chris Harris, Emmanuel Adebiyi (Jamie Salmon, 78). Unused Substitutes: Jaden Crowhurst, Joshua Wakefield. Manager: Brad Wellmen.

Hornchurch: Mason Terry, Will Greenidge, Giles Phillips, Harry Gibbs, Ryan Scott (C), Tom Wraight, Angelo Balanta (Nathan Bertram-Cooper, 86), Darren McQueen, Charlee Adams, Ollie Muldoon, Sean Scannell (George Saunders, 85). Unused Substitutes: Emmanuel Enqhoro-Unuayan, Emmanuel Harvest, Theophilas Berko. Manager: Daryl McMahon.

Referee: Ayrton Hursey.

Assistant Referees: Craig Charles and Craig Wood.

Fourth Official: Daniel Baines.

Attendance: 1,731.