Liam Abraham reflects on Framlingham Town’s penalty shootout defeat to Harwich & Parkeston in the Thurlow Nunn League First Division North play-off semi-finals

Liam Abraham says Tuesday’s penalty shootout defeat to Harwich & Parkeston was a cruel way for his Framlingham Town side to bow out of this season’s play-offs.

The Castlemen were on course for a place in the final of the Thurlow Nunn League First Division North play-offs after Joe Berry’s opener put them in front on the hour mark.

But an injury-time equaliser from Harwich sent the semi-final tie to penalties with Fram, who had finished the game with 10 men, losing out 5-4 on spot kicks.

“It was a reallty cruel way for it to end,”Fram boss Abraham said.

“Not only the penalties but conceding an equaliser with only around 30 seconds left on the clock is really hard to take.

“We’ve got to pick ourselves up from the disappointment. I think once the dust settles it’s been a really positive season.

“We’ve made good progress from last year. The start we made to the season showed we can be front runners in the league.

“Whilst we didn’t do it all season, we showed we’re one of the best teams in the league.

“It was probably our biggest crowd of the season on Tuesday. The committee worked hard to put on a good night and, despite the result, it was a good night for the club.”

Fram finished third in the First Division North table, after drawing 1-1 with second-placed Downham Town on Saturday, which secured home advantage for the semi-finals.

The Castlemen still have a chance to finish the season with some silverware as they take on league rivals AFC Sudbury Reserves in the CNet Training Suffolk Senior Cup final.

A date and venue for the final has still not been confirmed, but for Fram it will be a chance to win the Senior Cup for the first time in the club’s history.

“We’ve still got the cup final and an opportunity to get our hands on a trophy,” Abraham said.

“We really want a date to be confirmed for it so we can then start to plan.

“We’ll give our lads a bit of rest time now and we’ve got our presentation day a week on Saturday.

“We could potentially look to have a friendly before then, but we haven’t looked into it. We’ll wait and see how far away the final is going to be.”