Holders Chelmsford City missed out on a second successive Pelly Under 18s Cup crown after an entertaining final saw the silverware go to Billericay Town following a penalty shootout at Heybridge Swifts FC’s Scraley Road home.

“We are delighted to have won the county cup,” proclaimed Town boss Paul Moody afterwards. “Both teams cancelled each other out for a lot of the game and Chelmsford were forced into a formation change, which is when they got their goal. We then changed the way we played too and I always thought we’d go on to win, even if extra time was pretty much a stalemate.”

It was Billericay who dominated most of the first period and Brad Hooper saw the initial opportunity bring a fine save from City goalkeeper Peter Haxell before Luke Snoad came close has he headed Tom Vickers’ corner inches over Haxell’s crossbar. Billericay could’ve taken the lead when Alex Kent was allowed time to fire a low shot against the post, while Haxell also made another decent stop to hold on to Snoad’s long range shot.

It was after the interval that the game came to life, Billericay taking the lead within 90 seconds of the restart. Some superb play from Billy Radley eventually saw the ball slid into the path of Brodie Horne who fired into the bottom corner. A superb save from Haxell kept his team in the game as he pushed out Horne’s close range header before Chelmsford started to come back into the game and Ryan Cooper showed his side’s intent as he fired over from 25 yards.

The tie was levelled on 82 minutes, a good move seeing two substitutes combine as Loveday Mumbuluma whipped a low cross into the six-yard box for Michael Cason to side-foot home. The ensuing extra period provided a tight half hour in which neither side produced an opportunity to clinch the game as the tie drifted into a penalty shootout.

Billericay drew first blood as goalkeeper Avery saved the first spot kick from Ross Lamb and, as the game went into the fifth round of kicks, Mumbuluma also saw Avery keep out his penalty. That allowed Captain Radley to slot home the winning kick for Billericay.

Billericay Town: Jack Avery, Jack Shepherd, Luke Snoad, Tom Vickers (Ricky Brown, 100), Sam Burton, Billy Shulver (Jack Swift, 85), Brad Hooper, Billy Radley, Alex Kent, Brodie Horne, Paul Addison. Unused Substitutes: Kane Branson, Lewis Pether, Jamie Sorrell.

Chelmsford City: Peter Haxell, Lee Monk, Matthew Roberts (Loveday Mumbuluma, 58), Myles Bacon, Robert Clarke (Michael Cason, 69), Pearce Clarke, Harry Austen-Hardy, Ryan Batchford, Ross Lamb, Ryan Cooper, Bradley Williams (Bradley Scott, 19). Unused Substitutes: Bradley Passway.

Referee: Steven Connor (Great Notley).

Assistant Referees: Anthony Pope (Braintree) and Brett Grant (Canvey Island).

Fourth Official: Peter Wilson (Chelmsford).

Attendance: 233.