Northern Ireland: Match Decided After 44 Penalty Kicks

Two teams in the Northern Irish leagues, Ballymena United and Coleraine, were involved in a match, which featured 44 penalty kicks before a winner emerged.

The two teams were playing in the quarter finals of the BetMclean Cup, a national football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland open to all member clubs of the Northern Ireland Football League.

It is the third-most prestigious competition in domestic Irish League football after the NIFL Premiership and Irish Cup.

The marathon affair at Ballymena Showgrounds on Tuesday saw Coleraine emerge 18-17 winners in the shootout after the match ended 1-1 at full-time and after extra time.

Forty-four penalties were taken and the tie eventually ended at 22:50 GMT.

The Bannsiders’ win saw them progress to the BetMcLean Cup quarter-finals.
“I’ve never seen anything like it and I’ve never been involved in anything like it,” said Coleraine manager Kearney.
“It was pretty surreal. To be fair to both teams, there were two or three stages of it where we had a kick to win once or twice, Ballymena had a kick to win it once or twice, and then all of a sudden saves were like buses.
“There were plenty of penalties being scored and then when they missed one, we missed one! It was a strange, crazy night but for us, happy to be in the next round.”