A day of hotly-anticipated fictional Sunday Football League action unfolded in front of a packed out crowd at the home of Sheffield FC on Easter Sunday.

Viral assistant manager of The Royal Oak FC Steve Bracknall joined manager Paul Sampson and head physio Bob the Bucket on the sidelines, but they couldn’t lead their side to a win over fierce rivals The Nags Head in the quarter finals of the Sheffield Imperial Cup.

The game didn’t disappoint for the 2,ooo plus spectators who crammed into the Dronfield arena, with plenty of goalmouth action. It was Brian Marshall’s Nags Head who progressed, though, with a 2-1 victory.

Dubbed ‘the biggest Sunday League match in history’, this one had all the spice and emotion you would expect from a rivalry that has been stoked up in the press over recent years.

The match was streamed via The Steve Bracknall Podcast YouTube channel, with BBC Radio Sheffield doing a commentary on the game. The game itself was streamed over 55,000 times and reportedly was watched live more than NASA’s launch of Artemis II.

In what was a rare televised event, attendees turned up donning the iconic blue and black striped shirt of The Oak, waving scarves and in many cases dressing up as their favourite characters from the viral social media sensation.

Influencers such as Angry Ginge, who starred in I’m a Celebrity Get me Out of Here, were in attendance and made the half time raffle draw.

After a subdued first half which finished 0-0, the game erupted into life in the second period.

The Nags Head went two nil up thanks to a belter of a free kick followed with an own goal.

The Oak pulled one back after Tommy netted from the spot. The drama didn’t end there, with Tommy missing a second penalty which had to be taken twice after the Nags Head ‘keeper left his line the first time around.

One of the sub-plots of the afternoon was form Oak forward Wynny swapping the blue and black for the white of the Nags Head. His game came to an abrupt end after getting injured half way through the second half.

And as the Oak pushed on as the seconds ticked away, ‘keeper Robbo joined the attacking box for a late corner, but ultimately an equaliser couldn’t be forced.

The game finished 2-1 to The Nags Head, who progress to the semi finals of the Sheffield Imperial Cup.

Reacting following the final whistle, Bracknall said: “It’s disappointing. There’ll be plenty of time to dissect what went wrong, I have my own opinion, people will have theirs, but I suppose I’ll take stock tonight and be thankful we have 2,500 people in a small non-league ground coming together and that we can be proud of.

“I’m not an excuse maker, we should have had two or three penalties first half but I’m more disappointed how we came out second half. We were flat. We’ve not laid a finger on them, and for that, we’ll have regrets.

“Tensions were high, we all know what happened with Wynny (leaving Royal Oak for Nags Head), there’s history between the clubs. Any local derby is a tight affair and I don’t think either team dominated.

“We’ll go back to the Royal Oak and have a drink. I want to thank every single person who watched online, came to the ground and interacted with us, it means the world to me.”

Talking about Sheffield football as a whole, Bracknall went on to say: “We don’t shout about ourselves in this city enough, but I think the tide is turning and we need to be proud of where we’re from, proud of our history and I hope today has contributed to that in some small way.”

Known online as the assistant manager and beating heart of Royal Oak FC, Steve has built a following of more than a million fans across social media thanks to his viral team talks and behind‑the‑scenes antics.

His down-to-earth, no frills style of man-management has resonated with Sunday League lovers across the country.

Steve Bracknall is the creation of Sheffield comedian Chris McClure, whose other claim to fame is being the face on the Artic Monkeys’ debut album cover.

His brother, Jon McClure is the singer and front man of the Sheffield band Reverend and the Makers, and is also now the chairman of Sheffield FC, whose ground staged the match.