Heartbreak for Batelians as Gawthorpe win treble

Batelians looked set to get their hands of the trophy after Rob Bordman’s early goal gave them a slender lead, but Dominik Karimi bundled home in the second half to send the match into extra time.

And it was heartbreak for Batelians as a goal from Andrew Pickles gave Gawthorpe the win, and an historic treble.

The men in orange have won the Wheatley Cup, Wakefield and District Division One and League Cup this season.

Old Batelians will turn to the league for solace, where they currently hold a two-point lead over Leeds Medics and Dentist Reserves, who they need to drop points in their final two games to be crowned champions.

A season without silverware would be a travesty for a team which has impressed throughout and Batelians can consider themselves unlucky to have lost on Thursday.

It started so well as Bordman netted the opener, latching on to Sam Strickland’s through ball to skip round the hopeless challenge of Gawthorpe keeper Michael Buckley and tap home.

Batelians were in full control, and should have doubled their lead, Bordman firing wide one-on-one.

The hammer blow came late in the second half, when James Blane’s deflected shot was bundled over the line by Karimi, and Gawthorpe could have won the game in normal time, Michael Smith doing brilliantly to keep out Blane’s close-range volley.

But just when penalties seemed the only way to separate the teams, Pickles found himself free in the box and showed great composure to clip a tidy finish past Smith and seal a famous treble.