CONTROVERSIAL offside decisions, the woodwork and a penalty shoot-out lottery denied Ludlow FC a place in the Shropshire Challenge Cup final last weekend.

Ludlow dominated their semi-final at Shropshire League leaders Shrewsbury Juniors but could not find the net in 120 minutes and were beaten 5-4 on penalties.

Jack Marston and Tom Everall hit the woodwork in 90 minutes, while the latter was also cruelly denied a winner by a dubious offside flag two minutes from the end of extra time.

Ludlow’s Scott Gilbert then saw his shoot-out spot-kick saved as the other nine penalties found the net to leaving boss Chris Waldron wondering how his side had been beaten.

Waldron said: “It was a very even game but all the best chances fell to us so we are gutted. Their keeper made some great saves whereas ours only had to make one.

“But the performance and effort from the lads was fantastic. Considering how well Shrewsbury are doing in their league and how many goals they are scoring, our defence was spot on.”