In the prestigious Somerset FA Sunday Challenge Cup the two remaining Uxella League representatives had varying fortunes as they faced the cream of Sunday Leagues from other parts of the county.
Clearwater put up a good battling performance but eventually went down 1-2 away to Bristol Sunday side Stockwood Lodge. The game had been evenly poised at 1-1 at the interval with Clearwater's effort coming from a Stockwood own goal but the home side then scored again ten minutes into the second half, at the right end this time, and there was to be no way back for Clearwater.
Meanwhile Tiger Old Boys completely dominated their game against Bath side Odd Down Social Club but found that their ongoing problem with converting their chances almost cost them again. Despite enjoying the lion's share of possession they only had a solitary Rob Fearn goal to show for their efforts while the opposition eventually managed to equalise with one of their few chances on the break. With the scores level at 1-1 after ninety minutes the game went into extra time but no further goals were forthcoming from either side so matters came to a head with a penalty shoot-out which the Tigers managed to win 6-5 and as a result progress to the quarter-finals of the competition as the Uxella League's sole representatives.
As a result of various game cancellations as a consequence of the Somerset Cup action plus the local council's decision to rest their pitches this weekend there was only one game contested in the First Division of the Uxella League and it saw something of a shock result as high-flying Red Tile lost 3-2 at Cross Rifles after goals from the Rifles' Chris Goodison, Carl Jones and Adam Kinsey. Damon Jennings and player-manager Andy Staunton responded for Tile.
There was plenty of action however in the Division Two with an upset almost coming about in the game between Admirals and many-people's Second Division champions-elect, Maltshovel Sports. Admirals raced into a shock 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Matt Francis and Andrew Cheese and that was how the score remained until fifteen minutes from the end when an inspired tactical substitution saw new purpose injected into Maltshovel's play. Almost immediately Dean Organ scored to give them a glimmer of hope. Then team-mate Rob Rowley levelled the scores after slotting home coolly. Then, as Admirals were still coming to terms with the idea of settling for a point when three had seemed on the cards, Organ popped up again to score his second and to snatch yet another victory for the second flight's most consistent performers.
Another high-flying side, Puriton United, also racked up another three points but they had to battle hard in the early stages against an impressive Woolavington Reserves side who were supplemented on the day by a sprinkling of first-teamers who were available for selection as a result of the lack of action in the top flight. Indeed, Woolavington led 2-1 at the break before Puriton found another gear in the second period and went on to record a comfortable 6-2 home win after hat-tricks from both of their main marksmen, Darryl Taylor and Will Beggs. The prolific pair have now scored 28 and 31 goals respectively this season and it was Taylor's fourth hat-trick of the campaign and his third in his last four games.
Despite suffering from a waterlogged pitch Glastonbury-based Tor Sports showed good ingenuity as they decamped to Wookey FC's ground for the day and got their just rewards for their endeavour with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Commercial after two goals from Oliver Edwards and one from Tom Ponting. Ben Norman responded for Commercial.
Tor will also be pleased to discover that Grasshoppers '04 did them a favour by beating their local rivals Countryman 4-0 at Morganians. The Hoppers' young side, again featuring seven teenagers in their starting line-up, raced to a 3-0 half-time advantage after two strikes from Gary Passmore and one from Alex Kippen. They then struck again midway through the second half when substitute Russ Pigden expertly rounded the keeper to slot home and further extend '04's impressive recent sequence of results which has seen them lose only one of their last eight league games and that to Maltshovel by a single goal margin.
It was a good day all round for the Grasshoppers as their other side, Grasshoppers '05, also emerged victorious from their encounter with basement boys Cannington. Cannington took an early lead through Gordy Addicott but the experienced Hoppers outfit soon rallied and went in at the break leading 3-1 after goals from Mark Crossley, Paul Ham and Scottish "super veteran" Bob Kippen. They then added a fourth in the second half through Rob Whiterod while Cannington's player-boss Ben Dyer struck a second for the home side but the day and the points belonged to the Grasshoppers.
(Story First Published: 19.02.06) |
