ST Thomas More High School are into the last four of a national cup after a thrilling penalty shoot-out win over Lancaster School.

The Westcliff-based Year 11 side made the long trip to Leicestershire last Thursday in a bid to reach the semi-finals of the PlayStation Schools under-16 Premier League Cup, although they left it late to secure their progress.

St Thomas More triumphed 7-6 in the shoot-out with a string of misses in sudden death sending the coaches’ nerves jangling. But Tom Elliott held his nerve to score the decisive spot-kick.

However the win looked a long way away when Lancaster took the lead in the first half after a dominant first 45 minutes.

But, after a few harsh words from the management team at half-time, St Thomas More were spurred into life and Franklin Craik was well denied by the Lancaster goalkeeper.

The Westcliff school were now dominating the game and they looked set to be awarded a penalty when Lewis Gard appeared to be taken down in the box, but the referee was unmoved.

But, with 20 minutes to go Ethan Baldwin crashed home an equaliser to send the game into extra time.

Neither side was able to create a clear cut chance in added time and the game went to penalties.

With a simple message of ‘hit the target’ both teams scored their first six penalties, with the next five efforts saved, before Elliott scored the winner.

After the match, St Thomas More’s management team said the game was played in a great spirit, and they offered congratulations to the staff and players at Lancaster School, whose school should be very proud of the way they performed both on and off the pitch.

“It was a truly monumental display from all the boys in the second half and extra time,” said a member of the management team. “It was a real test of character and our toughest test to date.

“All the boys involved should be immensely proud of themselves for their achievements so far, but we are not getting carried away and know there is another game to be played if we want to make the final of a national competition.

They will take on Beechen Cliff School from Bath in the semi-finals of the competition after the half-term holiday.