Alex Frost cut a frustrated figure on the touchline as Avro’s season ended in disappointment on Wednesday night at the Vestacare Stadium, with Bacup Borough twice coming from behind and eventually securing a 3-2 success with a last gasp penalty in the Macron Cup third round tie, writes Liam Bambridge.

"I felt that if we had managed to hold the lead on either occasion for more than a couple of minutes, we probably would have gone on and won the game", said Frost.

"Fair play to them, they came straight back at us but we made it too easy for them with both the goals that we conceded. And then in the last 20 minutes, they are a young, fit side and I felt it really showed, for me they looked more likely to get a winner but I still thought we had done enough to take it to penalties. So to concede a goal with the last kick of the match was a tough one to take, but it is what it is, it’s another lesson learned for our players and as a group they know that they need to be fitter and mentally sharper if we are to build on the progress that we have made as a club this season."

The first half was incident-packed, with Louis Potts giving the home side the lead early on, only for Bacup midfielder Michael Gervin to equalise ninety seconds later. By the half hour mark Avro were back in front, with Kyle Jacobs’ perfectly weighted through ball giving Lee Grimshaw the chance to net his first goal for the club with a cool lob over visiting keeper Henry Turner. However, again their lead was short-lived, as Toby Wright reacted quickest to the loose ball in the penalty area after James Coates had saved from Alex Mellor to make it 2-2.

After the break both sides had chances, but the game looked to be heading for a penalty shoot out before referee Taylor Metcalfe adjudged that Mellor had been brought down in the box in injury time.

Anthony Hall kept his nerve to send Coates the wrong way with the last kick of the game, and Borough now go on to face Congleton Town in the quarter finals.

One bright note on an ultimately unsatisfactory evening for the home supporters was the reappearance of Kai Haigh as a second half substitute, having missed much of the season through illness. ‘

"It’s great for him to get a few minutes of playing time in before we go again in July, and I thought he did pretty well considering how long he has been out," said Frost. "I was really impressed with him in those first ten games in August and September, and he is certainly someone that I feel can be an important player for us going forward."

Avro will now need to wait for the outcome of the inevitable league reorganisation to be finalised before learning the identity of all their opponents in the NWCL Premier Division in the 2022-23 campaign.

Runners-up Wythenshawe Town are still waiting for the step 4 leagues to finish this weekend to determine their promotion play-off opposition, while Huddersfield-based side Golcar United are tipped to move across to the Northern Counties East League after their Division One North play-off success.