This weekend saw the magic of the cup return once again as the Uxella League teams temporarily turned their attention away from the eternal quest for points and instead focused on an alternative route to silverware with the Second Round of the prestigious Dave Hobbs Cup and the opening round of the Tom Bell Trophy.
There is no doubt that the major upset of the day came in the Dave Hobbs tie between current Uxella League leaders and reigning Dave Hobbs Cup holders Railway Club and First Division strugglers Tiger Reserves. In a surprise result Railway were comprehensively beaten by a fired-up Tiger Reserves side who eventually ran out comfortable 4-1 victors after goals from the evergreen Paul Irvine, Jamie Chillingworth and Nick Keirle. Railway's prolific veteran marksman Bob Abrams was kept reasonably quiet for most of the game by a determined Tiger's rearguard but he still managed to bag a consolation goal for his club. However, a new name will be on the trophy at the climax of this campaign.
There were also upsets in two other Dave Hobbs ties which both saw Second Division outfits overcome top flight sides.
In the game between Division Two title contenders Maltshovel Sports and First Division basement boys Bunch of Grapes Maltshovel started the brighter of the two sides and took a deserved lead after ten minutes through Jordan Meaker. It looked for a long time as if one goal would be enough to decide the game until Bunch levelled midway through the second half. However, Maltshovel then restored their lead late in the game and went on to win 2-1 after Steve Davis successfully converted a penalty against a now ten-man Bunch after one of their players had handballed on the goal line and received his marching orders as a result.
Quantock Pride were the other high-flying Second Division outfit who beat a struggling First Division side as they ran out 3-1 home winners over Huntspill Crowns after a brace from James Bawden and one from his brother Paul. Huntspill are not the first side this season to have found it a tough ask keeping up for ninety minutes with the sheer youthful energy of the dynamic young Pride side.
Two other ties pitting First Division sides against Division Two outfits went more according to the script.
In a pulsating encounter at Pawlett between Second Division high-flyers Puriton United and First Division heavyweights Squib Madrid the top flight side eventually came out on top but only after a titanic struggle between two fully committed teams. The scores remained level at 1-1 at the interval before Squib raced into a 4-1 lead at the beginning of the second half. However, United came back at them and even missed a penalty along the way before going out of the competition by a single goal margin as the match ended 5-4 to Squib. Vince Kennedy was the man of the match with a four-goal salvo for Squib and was joined on the scoresheet by team-mate Liam Derrick. Will Beggs(2), Darryl Taylor and Ryan Williams responded for Puriton.
The match between Clearwater and Grasshoppers '05 was more clear cut but even so Clearwater were made to work hard by the Hoppers before running out 4-1 home winners, mainly thanks to a Steve Spencer hat-trick. Rob Whiterod responded for the Hoppers from the penalty spot after tricky Turkish striker Erkan had been pulled down in the box.
The remaining ties in the Dave Hobbs Cup saw two games involving fellow Second Division sides.
Admirals duly exacted revenge on Grasshoppers '04 for their home league defeat last weekend against the same opponents by returning the compliment with a 4-2 win at the Hoppers home ground, Morganians. Admirals raced into an early 2-0 lead thanks to two strikes on the counter-attack from Martin Cheese. They then extended their lead with another two goals early in the second half through Kevin Lawrence and from a superb 25-yard free-kick from Dan Roberts. It was then a case of adding injury to insult for the Hoppers as their veteran skipper and midfield talisman John Kervell was taken away by ambulance after falling awkwardly on his shoulder and looks likely to miss the remainder of the campaign. This big blow finally seemed to stir the young Hoppers side into action and they quickly scored two goals in response when the game eventually restarted, both superb efforts in their own right, and once again from the boots of highly promising 16-year-olds in Matt Burgess and Liam Wardle.
In the other all-Second Division tie, Countryman ran out comfortable 4-1 home winners over Bridgwater Wanderers after two goals from Adam Culliford and once each from Chris Franks and Toby Tucker.
Meanwhile, in the First Round of the Tom Bell Trophy, goals from Andy Staunton, James Hamilton and Damon Jennings gave Red Tile a 3-1 home win over First Division rivals Flag Old Boys in a cracking encounter which Tile manager Staunton described afterwards as his side's best performance of the season to date. Mike Taylor responded with Flag's consolation effort.
In the other Tom Bell tie, Blake Old Boys progressed to the next round after a tight encounter with much-improved Second Division outfit, Tor Sports, after a narrow 3-2 home win which saw winning goals from Blake's Matt Milton, Chris Yates and Kevin Price.
There were also two Uxella League games played featuring one match from each division.
In Division One title-hunting Woolavington looked to be a bit leggy after their heroic victory over arch-rivals Tiger Old Boys last weekend and were made to work very hard for their three points on this occasion by a resolute Cross Rifles side who pushed themselves to the absolute limit before going down 6-4. A brace from Tim Netto and one each from Marcus Butler, Ian Bellinger, Matt Blackmore and Matt Fursland eventually sealed the victory for Woolavington but the Rifles never stopped believing and scored good strikes of their own through Craig McGann(2), Daniel Leech and Chris Goodison from the penalty spot.
Meanwhile in the Second Division Commercial ran out comfortable 5-1 home winners over bottom-of-the-table Cannington after a hat-trick from Robert Trice, an outstanding free-kick from Gareth Clarke and a further goal from Leigh Gough. Lee Chamberlain was again on the scoresheet for Cannington by way of reply.
(Story First Published: 05.02.06) |
