Mid Oxon Under 15s manager Neil Edwards was overjoyed after seeing his team book a place in the ESFA Trophy final for the first time in their 55-year history.

Mid Oxon beat holders Liverpool 2-1 after extra time in the semi-final at Chipping Norton, with Jacob Hughes scoring a double.

Now Mid Oxon will face Dacorum – 5-4 winners on penalties over South London after their tie finished 1-1 following extra time at Chelsea’s training ground – in the final at a venue and on a date to be arranged.

But in the meantime Edwards is savouring his players’ success. “I’m absoutely chuffed to bits for them,” he said. “Every round we have improved. It’s a huge competition.

“Liverpool had won it 17 times and are the holders, so for us to beat them 2-1 in extra time is a huge achievement.

“As an association, we’re much smaller in size than Liverpool.

“I watched their quarter-final and they beat East Northumberland 3-0 and the opposition didn’t have a shot.

“But we have many players capable of scoring, and once we got the goal, we more or less controlled extra-time, and that was the telling factor in the game.

“I don’t think Liverpool had lost a competitive game in two seasons, and I think when they were leading, their minds were on the bus and halfway home.”

In front of a crowd of more than 300, Mid Oxon, one of the smallest associations in the competition, went a goal down in the 14th minute.

A deep cross from a free-kick was spilled by keeper Owen Churchill, and Luis Kennedy struck home.

Mid Oxon had to wait until the last kick of normal time to equalise.

Liam Botcherby flicked on Luke Turner’s free-kick, and Hughes ran onto the ball to finish superbly, sending the crowd delirious.

Within two minutes of the start of extra time, Mid Oxon were ahead.

Yassin Elouahabi got in a pinpoint cross from the left to pick out at Hughes at the far post, and he headed the ball back across goal into the corner.

Liverpool looked a beaten side, and sadly in the closing stages, tempers flared as Hughes appeared to be the victim of a headbutt.

This led to a mass confrontation as spectators encroached onto the pitch, and a delay of some five minutes while order was restored.

Edwards added: “I never had any doubt we could come back from a goal down.

“In the fifth round we were 2-0 behind against Dudley and came back to win.

“Liverpool dropped back to defend their lead, and that gave us a chance.

“The equaliser was a great finish from Jacob, and the goal knocked the stuffing out of them.”