Hallen came away from a fabulous Under-10s tussle with the narrowest of wins after an end-to-end battle between two good sides.

The home team won the first match 2-0 but Saints roared back in game two to level the aggregate score before Hallen's Callum Berry struck the decisive blow.

Saints started well and Ben Wheaton ran down the left wing before crossing to Jack Brice, who could only poke the ball wide under pressure from an opponent.

Wheaton soon found himself on the offensive again, this time down the right, but his cross was too close to Hallen keeper Callum Baber.

With Andrew Clark and Dominic Rowe defending solidly for Saints, Hallen had to wait until the 13th minute for their first chance. Edward Wilson's fine cross went over keeper Richie Edmonds but Corey Cotterill was unable to direct his header towards goal.

Hallen had another opportunity when Abraham Fullbrook broke free down the right wing and knocked the ball past his marker before delivering a delightful cross to Cotterill, who again headed wide.

At the other end, Wheaton won possession and broke down the left, but his early shot from the edge of the box thudded against a post and spun out for a goal- kick.

Hallen hit back and Joe Tanzell won the ball before playing it wide for Fullbrook, whose long- range effort flew just wide of the far post.

On the stroke of half-time, Brice's cross caused confusion in the Hallen defence but Wheaton failed to test the keeper.

Saints almost snatched the lead at the start of the second half, Wheaton collecting the ball on the flank and thumping a shot against an upright.

Wheaton was denied again by a last-ditch challenge from Tom Wookey and, from the resulting corner taken by Luke Patel, the same player had a header well collected by Baber.

Seconds later, however, Hallen went in front. Baber's clearance was collected by Tanzell, who slid the ball through the Saints defence for Cotterill to slot into the bottom corner of the net.

Wheaton did well to charge back and dispossess Fullbrook with an excellent sliding tackle but the second goal was not very far away.

Brice was tackled well by Hallen captain Dan Wass, who slid the ball down the line to Tanzell. He beat his man before crossing to Cotterill, whose sliced effort found Fullbrook unmarked at the far post to slot home.

Hallen launched a series of attacks after that but failed to find a third goal. And they were nearly made to pay late on when James Carling was just off-target for Saints.

With a two-goal cushion to lift them, Hallen got the second game under way by going on the attack straight away and only a good tackle by Max Wright denied Berry after he had taken the ball off the fingertips of Saints keeper Joseph Coffin.

Saints' first chance came when Will Jones played the ball wide to Santana Schooler, who could not find the target with his first-time shot. His team continued to press and they almost went in front from a corner, Salar Rahbari Namin clearing the ball off the line for Hallen.

Saints came close again two minutes later as Jones' low cross hit Hallen's Robbie Parker on the foot as he ran back and almost went into his own net.

Finally, Saints did make the breakthrough – and in real style too. Karl Bessell's corner was clipped to the edge of the box, where Schooler was waiting to arrow the ball first time on the volley into the top corner of the net past helpless keeper Darrel Smith for a breathtaking goal.

At the other end, Harvey Corp's driven cross was just too far in front of Noah Aikins as he slid in to try and connect at the back post.

Hallen kept pressing and Rahbari Namin ran through the middle, only for his attempted pass through the defence to drift too far in front of Tate Brooker. Parker then played in the marauding Brooker again, but out came Coffin and the forward's shot rolled inches past the far post.

A corner led to Downend scoring again. Bessell clipped the ball back to Schooler, who again hit it on the volley.

Although the effort was less convincing than his previous attempt, it still hit the target and hesitancy in the Hallen defence allowed the ball to trickle over the line to level up the aggregate score at 2-2.

Boosted by their good fortune, Saints almost grabbed a third as Ben Norman hammered the ball upfield for Schooler to latch on to, but Hallen captain Jacob Dumble came across to clear.

Five minutes into the second period, Hallen pulled a goal back. Berry ran through one-on-one with the keeper lurking on the edge of his area and fired the ball home for what proved to be the winner.

Max Wookey almost levelled for Saints but he was unable to control his finish, and shortly afterwards Bessell hit a superb chipped shot from outside the box which had Smith beaten all ends up only for the ball to strike the crossbar and loop over.

The closing stages were frantic as the tension rose and a shot from Corp brought out the best in Saints keeper Coffin, who flew across his goal to expertly tip the ball round the post for a corner.

Hallen Juniors: Callum Baber, Tom Wookey, Dan Wass, Corey Cotterill, Cameron Dyte, Abraham Fullbrook, Edward Wilson, Joe Tanzell, Darrel Smith, Jacob Dumble, Salar Rahbari Namin, Harvey Corp, Robbie Parker, Noah Aikins, Callum Berry, Brandon Dixon, Tate Brooker.

Downend Saints: Richie Edmonds, Dominic Rowe, Andrew Clark, Luke Patel, James Carling, Jack Brice, Fin Wolland, Ben Wheaton, Joseph Coffin, Ben Norman, Max Wright, Karl Bessell, Will Jones, Max Wookey, Santana Schooler, Max Edmonds.