LITTLE Oakley's under-15s won the Colchester and District League Cup after a thrilling 2-1 victory against Colchester Athletic.

They started well and settled into their passing game early on.

However, Athletic were resolute and well-organised at the back.

As the half went on, Oakley started to get frustrated and, despite keeping possession well, they failed to create a clear-cut chance.

Colchester posed a constant threat on the counter-attack, but skipper Toby Morton was in commanding form, alongside Jonny Allen and Louis Perry.

The second half exploded into life on the hour-mark, when Colchester scored.

Oakley still had the majority of the possession, but were unable to find the net.

Dan Rowe, Rory Porter and Isacc Scott all had chances but failed to trouble the keeper.

The referee checked his watch and the cup looked on be on its way to Colchester.

However, every Oakley player dug deep to keep pegging Athletic back.

There was one final throw of the dice for Oakley, when they won a free-kick on the halfway line.

Everyone was sent forward as the referee checked his watch for a third time.

Rowe had to be so quick to take the free-kick and keeper Brad Cook only made it as far as the halfway line.

The ball went long into the box and appeared to be cleared, but Morton managed to hold off a challenge and set up Scott.

Scott hit a rasping drive across the keeper into the far top corner, much to the delight of the Oakley bench and supporters.

The drama wasn’t over as the linesman stood with his flag up.

The referee consulted with him, adding to the tension, but the flag was for an Oakley substitute, who had encroached on to the pitch in his celebration of the goal.

The match restarted and the referee immediately called time.

Having dug themselves out of a hole, Oakley were determined that victory would be theirs.

Five minutes into extra time, Allen ghosted in to latch on to a perfect Aaron Muckle corner and put the Acorn ahead.

Oakley saw out the rest of extra-time without too much trouble to put their name on the trophy for the first time.

Picking a man-of-the-match was difficult but it eventually went to unsung hero Allen.