The focus this weekend switched from the cut and thrust of the Uxella League to the magic of the all-division Dave Hobbs Cup as the first round of ties kicked off in style.
Holders Railway Club signalled their intention to retain the trophy as they put second division Tor Sports to the sword with a 7-0 home win. Veteran striker Bob Abrams was the hero of the hour with a five-goal salvo and Lee Hemsley and Barry Hardwell completed the rout.
Meanwhile league champions Tiger Old Boys also scored seven but left it relatively late into their game against second division basement side Cannington before eventually running out 7-1 away victors. With the tie relatively secure for the visitors at 2-0 at the break plucky Cannington then proceeded to put the cat amongst the Tigers by pulling a goal back through Dean Addicott. The scoreline then remained evenly poised at 2-1 until the last twenty minutes when the Tigers finally raised their workrate and pulled clear with hat-tricks from both Mark Pope and the prolific Mike Nicholson followed by a late effort from substitute James Hamilton.
There was a third team racking up seven goals this weekend but it was not a name normally associated with such comfortable winning margins. In what was always going to be an intriguing encounter between Division One bottom side North Petherton and Second Division strugglers Grasshoppers '04, two teams who shared the rather unfortunate record of having lost every game they have played so far this season, the cup was always going to be a welcome diversion for one of them and it was the young Hoppers side who surprised everyone with a shock 7-0 home win over their higher division opponents. Despite their long losing streak leading up to this game, the club has kept faith with its unashamed focus on the development of youth and the policy has reaped its first reward as a side featuring no less than eight 16-year-olds proceeded to run riot with some wonderfully fluid attacking football. Two goals-a-piece from John Kervell and Dan Luce and one each from Liam Wardle, Matt Burgess, and from a superb lob, from Reuben Lee gave the league's youngest side their first taste of victory at this level. It has come at just the right time as they prepare to face their fierce in-club rivals Grasshoppers '05 next Sunday in a must-see Division Two clash at Morganians. As the song says: "I predict a riot".
Grasshoppers '05 themselves continued their impressive sequence as they recorded their fourth victory in a row and similarly overcame a First Division outfit, coming away from Mansfield Park with a hard-fought 4-3 win over Blake Old Boys. Another two goals from the prolific Les "Gas" Hobbs and further strikes from Bob Kippen and Wayne Court gave the veteran Hoppers a well-deserved 4-1 lead but they then had to work hard to resist the subsequent Blake fightback before eventually holding on to ensure that two Grasshoppers names will be in the hat for the next round.
Bridgwater Wanderers also displayed giant-killing tendencies as they ran out 3-2 winners over top flight Ashcott after two goals from Dean Dunn and one from Kev West.
Uxella League leaders Clearwater also progressed to the next round after an exciting clash with Flag Old Boys which finished 5-3 to Clearwater. The game had been evenly poised at half time with no score but Clearwater then proceeded to up the tempo in the second period, racing into a comfortable lead with two goals from the portly Ian Spence and another brace from Steve Spencer. Flag then rallied, clawing the score back to 4-3 after strikes from Lee White, Andy White and Jamie Stewart. However, Clearwater went on to seal the win with a second goal in consecutive games from their lively Australian import Heath Okely.
In a similarly high-profile encounter between First Division Squib Madrid and a much-fancied Woolavington outfit, it was Squib who came out on top with a 2-0 win after goals from Dave Baker and Vince Kennedy. The result is all the more impressive considering they played a large part of the game with only ten men after having their goalkeeper sent off. Ryan Hobbs bravely stepped up to fill in between the sticks for the first time in his career and proceeded to put in an outstanding performance that effectively sealed the win.
Admirals Landing were also on top of their game this weekend in their all-second division clash with Glastonbury Town where they ran out 6-1 victors after goals from Stuart Croker(2), Andrew Cheese(2), Kev Andrews and Kevin Curran.
Red Tile were unlucky to go out of the competition to Tiger Reserves, eventually going down 2-4 after extra time in a game that had everything including penalties, bookings and sending-offs. Paul Hancock and player-manager Andy Staunton struck for Tile but goals from Paul Cook, Matt Washer, Greg Ribbons and Jamie Chillingworth ensured that both Tigers sides will be in the mix at the second round stage.
Countryman registered a 4-2 home win over fellow second division side Woolavington Reserves after a hat-trick from Paul Coyle and one from Ben Birch.
Goals from Lee Ellis and Darren Cooper were not enough to prevent Commercial from being knocked out by Huntspill Crowns after a 2-3 home defeat.
Two teams with byes into the second round of the Dave Hobbs Cup, Quantock Pride and Puriton United, clashed in a re-scheduled Uxella League Second Division fixture which eventually saw Pride win 3-2 with a last minute deflected effort. James Bawden(2) and Lee Goss scored the winning goals which secured the three points and which sees Pride leap in to second place in the Division Two table.
(Story First Published: 17.10.05) |
