John Smith
16 April, 2025
Sport

Teenage super-sub Commons keeps Eastwood's title hopes alive

A spectacular stoppage-time equaliser in a 2-2 home draw with rivals Lincoln United has kept alive Eastwood CFC's UCL Premier North title hopes alive ahead of a dramatic final weekend of the season.

Eastwood joint managers Martin Ball and Daryll Thomas praised their team's resilience.

Teenage sub Finlay Commons was the Red Badgers' hero in the 95th minute as Lincoln saw a 2-0 lead wiped out.

With just two games remaining, the destiny of the title may be out of Eastwood's hands—but they’ve ensured Lincoln will be feeling the pressure.

Lincoln have a two point lead and Bourne Town are a further point behind Eastwood in third, though Eastwod boast the best goal difference.

On Saturday Lincoln host Heanor Town while Eastwood are away at Gresley Rovers and Bourne are at home to Hucknall Town.

On Easter Monday things conclude with Belper United the visitors at Eastwood, Lincoln at Skegness and Bourne at Harrowby United.

Eastwood joint managers Martin Ball and Daryll Thomas were full of praise for their teenage hero, saying: “To come into a game of that magnitude and score a goal like that - wow.

“He’s got a big future ahead of him.

"He’s just signed a contract with the club, which shows how highly we rate him - we’re absolutely delighted.

“In truth, we were disappointed to find ourselves 2–0 down as we felt we had control of large parts of the game.

“Both goals came from situations we should have dealt with better.

"But credit to the lads—they showed great resilience.

“At 2-1 you always think there’s a chance, and then Finn pops up with a wonder goal to give us a point and keep the title race alive.

"We’ve kept the pressure on them—now let’s see how they handle it.”

With promotion to Step Four and the league crown hanging in the balance, a bumper crowd of 626 packed into Coronation Park.

At 2-0 down, Lincoln looked to have one hand on the title, but Oliver Robinson pulled one back before, with time all but done, Commons weaved past two defenders with sublime footwork before curling a magnificent strike into the bottom corner.

At the other end of the table, Kimberley MW kept their survival hopes alive with a 3-1 win at Skegness thanks to Daniel Tuck, Aaron Coyle and Lewis Weaver.