Young Bees Book Their Spot in The Finals After Confident Display

Harborough Town U23s booked their place in the Midland Football League Trophy final with a confident and dominant 3-1 victory over Hednesford Town in the semi-final clash.The Young Bees flew out of the blocks and were ahead inside five minutes. A swift move down the right saw Archie O’Donnell deliver a pinpoint cross into the box, where Kai O’Keefe met it with a composed half-volley to open the scoring. O’Keefe doubled his tally — and Harborough’s lead — soon after, this time courtesy of a clever move on the left. Martin Tsvetkov showed excellent footwork and vision to slide a pass through to O’Keefe, who finished calmly from a tight angle to make it 2-0.

Hednesford managed to halve the deficit, capitalising on a rare defensive lapse from the young Harborough side. Despite the setback, the Young Bees maintained control and crafted several well-worked chances, though they were unable to extend their lead before the break.

After the interval, Harborough picked up where they left off, asserting their authority and continuing to push forward. Their efforts were rewarded when Josh Berwick delivered an inch-perfect cross that was met by Archie O’Donnell, who capped his impressive performance with a clinical volley to restore the two-goal cushion and seal a 3-1 win.

Manager, Josh Unsworth said “Unbelievably proud of my boys tonight. The press was set up right and we didn’t give Hednesford a sniff throughout. We brought on 16 year olds from the bench, in a semi final, wow, everyone did me so, so proud. Kai, Joe and Archie really put on a show. Everyone can be super proud with the youth progressing through this club”