Royal Marines Win Falklands Cup After Nine-Goal Thriller

Royal Marines footballers have retained the Falklands Cup after a nine-goal thriller against the Parachute Regiment.

The match finished 5-4, with the Marines snatching a last-minute goal to secure the trophy against their biggest rivals at Exmouth Town's Southern Road ground.

It was the first time in five years since the competition was last contested - a full rerun of the match can be watched here.

The Paras started brightest, Ash Coldclough's left-footed effort giving them the lead after 27 minutes.

The Marines fired back quickly, however, Stuart Morgan rounding the keeper from a deep set-piece, grabbing his second in a matter of minutes.

Suddenly with their backs to the wall, the Paras launched a rapid-fire attack of their own, Coldclough with a second before a deflected free-kick turned the tables in the Regiment's favour.

The Marines showed no sign of backing down, Shay Saunders squaring up the affair at 3-3 before half-time.

Perhaps in need of a moment's peace, both sides began slowly in the second half, before Dan Cherry turned in a close-range chance on the hour-mark to give the Marines the lead.

The Paras equalised through Matt Lord on full-time to the dismay of Marines captain Richard Charles, who had missed an open goal minutes earlier.

But, showing his leadership colours, the man in green left his marker standing in the dying moments, heading home to seal the victory.

Sergeant Charles told Forces News he was relieved to have the final say: "It’s a little bit of redemption, I think I rectified my mistake.

"I got a bit lucky, lost my marker and ended up scoring the winner.

"It’s a great feeling."

Captain of the Parachute Regiment, Corporal Jamie Found, said his team "fought hard" to score what they believed would be the final goal of the game:

“We thought it would be enough to clinch something out of the game – which we thought we thoroughly deserved, especially after going ahead.

"Congratulations to the Marines, they fought hard and the last-minute goal just nibbed it for them."

After a game with plenty of twists and turns, the result was confirmed with the Falklands Cup being lifted for the first time in half a decade.