Sant Julià hold nerve to retain Andorran Cup

UE Sant Julià goalkeeper Jesús Coca was the hero as his side edged FC Santa Coloma 5-4 on penalties at the end of a 1-1 draw to retain Andorra's Copa Constitució.

The custodian kept out Santa Coloma's fourth penalty, taken by goalkeeper Eloy Casals, and promptly buried the decisive fifth spot-kick himself to clinch a second successive cup for Sant Julià – and their fifth overall.

That came after a tight encounter, with Arturo Gándara enjoying the best chance in normal time only for Casals to prevail in their one-on-one tussle. League champions Santa Coloma then went ahead through Gabi Riera on 100 minutes, but Rodrigo Guida levelled shortly afterwards to give Coca his chance to shine.

"We suffered like never before," said the keeper, whose shoot-out heroics booked Sant Julià a place in next season's UEFA Europa League qualifying phase. "We deserve this because of the effort we made. Finals like these are always decided by details. We've fought hard all year and in the end it all came down to the last second, but luckily the game went our way. I've never lost a penalty shoot-out."

"This has been an enthralling final, a very difficult match from kick-off," added Sant Julià coach Raul Cañete. "It was a really tough game, really evenly matched. But in the end we came from a goal down and that gave us strength. You could see how nervous we were on the pitch. The players knew that so much was at stake; they knew we were playing for our futures."