Longlevens AFC came out victorious on Tuesday night as they travelled to play a tough Worcester Raiders side, the 1-0 win for the away side booked them a place in the final of the Wisemen Lighting Floodlit Cup.
In a tightly contested match, the players knew it would be a game of margins and when Ben Lodge found Alex Knight just inside the area, he made no mistake as he smashed the ball into the top left corner from a tight angle.
Longlevens co-manager Buster Davies was delighted with the goal: “Lodge done brilliant, kept his composure then slotted it to Knight one touch, out of his feet and then back of the net.”
Here we go…#UpTheLevens 🔴⚫️ pic.twitter.com/8XBmwJDI1Z
— Longlevens AFC (@longlevensafc) March 10, 2026
The early goal failed to settle nerves for Levens fans as memories of their last fixture against the Raiders, where the home side came back from being 2-0 down to win the game, flooded their minds.
The rest of the first half was a cagey affair with little goal-line action, other than one deflected strike from Worcester which was expertly tipped over the bar by Levens goalkeeper Drew Brei.
The second half was more of the same, in typical semi-final fashion some more hard challenges started flying in resulting in yellow cards being handed out to both sides.
After the only Levens change of the game, attacking midfielder Lewis Driscoll was pushed up the pitch to play striker.
Driscoll made an instant impact up top pressing the Worcester backline and would have had put the game to bed late on if it weren’t for a good save from the keeper.
Levens continued their impressive defensive display to see out their 1-0 lead, booking themselves in their first final since the 2013-2014 season.
Levens are final bound!!
— Longlevens AFC (@longlevensafc) March 10, 2026
What. A. Win. #UpTheLevens 🔴⚫️ pic.twitter.com/OWjhiiN2Yi
Tempers flared at full-time with a member of the Worcester squad being shown red for his post-match antics.
However, there was no surprise that Davies was over the moon with his team’s performance: “We had a game plan coming into the game and the boys executed it perfectly, they bought into what we wanted tonight and got us over the line.”
Having not been in the final for some time, the thought of winning silverware is something that would be felt throughout the club.
“That’s why we’re in it” said Davies, “We want to win things and we have another opportunity in another semi-final at the end of the month, so fingers crossed we get to another final.
“It would mean the world to us to lift that trophy next week, for the club, the fans and the players.”
Longlevens will hope to continue their good run of form with another two games to play before the final as they look to keep the ball rolling as they come to the end of a busy four game week.
The victory now sets up a final between the winners of tonight’s fixture as Hungerford Town Reserves face Malmesbury Vicoria, with the final set to take place on Tuesday 17th.
