It was Quarter-Finals day in the two main Uxella League cup competitions and the most eye-catching result in the premier competition, the Dave Hobbs Cup, saw the two Tiger Old Boys sides go head-to-head to decide who would progress to the last four.
It proved to be a real humdinger of a game with both sides giving everything before the first string eventually beat the reserves by a 6-5 scoreline. The Tigers first eleven took the lead as expected through Mark Pope but the Reserves soon levelled and that set the pattern for the game with every lead taken by the main Tigers side being levelled by the Reserves until the very end when the first team went 6-4 up to achieve a cushion that, although dented by another Reserves strike, ultimately proved enough to see the first team through. Mark Pope ended the game with a hat-trick and was joined on the scoresheet by team-mates Darren Chillingworth, Mike Nicholson and Dave Pople. The Reserves replied with braces from Leigh Hurford and Paul Irvine and an own goal. Afterwards, Tigers manager Alan Lott paid tribute to referee Mike Hill, praising "a superb performance from the man in black, really letting the game flow which made for a great morning's football".
Another interesting clash in the Dave Hobbs Cup saw the two Second Division heavyweights, Quantock Pride and Maltshovel Sports, square up for a place in the semi's and it was Pride who eventually progressed with a 4-2 victory which included a hat-trick from returning top scorer James Bawden. Stuart Caldwell responded with both of Maltshovel's efforts.
The two other fixtures in the Dave Hobbs Cup had both pitched First Division sides against teams from Division Two and in both cases the top flight teams prevailed.
Despite being held 1-1 at the interval Squib Madrid eventually put six past Countryman in a 6-2 home win after goals from Dave Baker(2), Lee Mitchell, James Taylor and from super-sub Mike Hart who also bagged two.
Meanwhile, Clearwater came away from their trip to Admirals with an emphatic 8-2 win after a few tactical adjustments on the day which saw, among other things, Kevin Hurd playing up front where he proceeded to prove his striking prowess with a couple of goals. Danny Palfrey bagged a hat-trick while Ian Spence(2) and James Leader completed the rout. Last week's 50-year-old debutant Derek Mullins got a different kind of workout this time around as he stepped in to referee the game. Mike White plus an own goal gave Admirals their consolation strikes.
The stand-out fixture in the quarter-finals of the other main cup competition, the Tom Bell Trophy, was the much awaited contest between many people's league-champions-in-waiting, Woolavington, and Division Two's basement boys, Cannington. Taking heart from their recent revival which saw them beat Quantock Pride on their last outing, Cannington began this wet and windy morning with brave attacking intent and were duly rewarded for their adventure by taking a suprise 2-1 lead early in the first half and they even missed a penalty before Woolavington eventually managed to find second gear. By half time the game had a completely different complexion as Woolavington surged to a 5-2 advantage. Their quality then shone through even more after the break as they then went on to completely dominate while Cannington suffered a series of injuries to key defenders and they eventually crashed to an 11-3 hammering. A number of Woolavington players had just returned from injury and they wasted no time in making their mark again. Simon Caddy, playing his first 45 minutes of football for some time, bagged a hat-trick while Jake Chidgey(2), Ian Bellinger(2), John Wall, Wayne Barry, Marcus Butler and Matt Blackmore also got on the scoresheet. Cannington had three brothers to thank for their goals as Steve, Gordy and Gary Addicott all scored for the plucky underdogs.
The other Woolavington side in the competition, Woolavington Reserves, fared less well than their illustrious first eleven, eventually going out after a 1-4 home defeat to First Division Ashcott but not before taking the top flight side to extra time after the scores had remained at one a piece after ninety minutes.
Red Tile could not get going at all in the first half of their tie with Second Division Commercial and deservedly trailed 1-0 at the break after John Cook scored for the visitors. However, two quick goals from James Hamilton got Tile back in the game early in the second period and he went on to complete his hat-trick and to seal a 3-2 victory when he converted a penalty five minutes from time. Leigh Gough scored Commercial's other goal.
The remaining tie in the Tom Bell quarters saw a walkover for Cross Rifles after opponents Blake Old Boys were unable to locate their playing kit ahead of kick-off.
While the cup action was going ahead there were some interesting results from the two divisions of the Uxella League itself and an amazing upset almost came about at league leaders Railway Club as they entertained second-from-bottom Huntspill Crowns. Indeed, despite an early strike from Railway's Bob Abrams, a spirited Huntspill side found themselves leading the game 3-1 with only seven minutes remaining before late goals from Nigel Gillard, John Richards and a last minute winner from Lee Hemsley gave Railway a priceless 4-3 win that keeps their title challenge firmly on track.
The other top flight fixture saw Flag Old Boys similarly overturn a first half deficit after they had found themselves 1-0 down to Bunch of Grapes at the break. A half-time earbashing had the desired effect and Flag came out for the second half a completely different side with Lee White equalising soon after the restart before Lee Turner popped up to score the winner ten minutes from time.
In Division Two, it was a very good day indeed for the Grasshoppers as both of their teams emerged victorious from their respective encounters. Grasshoppers '05 registered an impressive 3-1 home win over the much improved Tor Sports to underline their own recent revival. Les Hobbs(2) and Alistair Witts scored the goals that extends '05's unbeaten run to four games.
Meanwhile young stablemates Grasshoppers '04 took great satisfaction from inflicting the same 4-1 scoreline on Bridgwater Wanderers that they had been on the wrong end of themselves when the two teams had last met back at the end of October. In the previous meeting the Wanderers had completely dominated proceedings with their fast and furious football and snappy tackling but the boot was on the other foot on this occasion as a rapidly maturing '04 outfit repaid the compliment in kind with a similarly effervescent display which goes a long way to answering questions about their ability to handle the more physical opponents. Goals from 16-year-olds Gary Passmore, Matt Burgess and from Reuben Lee from the penalty spot helped to seal the points but the two stand-out moments were a superb goal from the halfway line from midfielder Steve Moule and an outstanding acrobatic save from Polish goalkeeper Lucasz Szulc. Young skipper Liam Wardle again demonstrated his all-round capabilities as he stepped in as centre back and put on a display of great maturity.
(Story First Published: 12.03.06) |
