With the opening Uxella League fixtures out of the way last weekend attention turned to the first round of the all-divisional Dave Hobbs Cup.
Current holders Tiger Old Boys enjoyed a bye to the second round but another of the favourites for this trophy, Uxella League champions Woolavington, were in action as they entertained newly-formed teenage side Sportsman FC. Sportsman made a real game of it, keeping within a shout of the champions for a large part of the match before eventually going down 8-3 after losing one of their centre backs to a red card early during the second period. The usual suspects got on the scoresheet for Woolavington with Simon Caddy, Matt Fursland and Matt Blackmore all scoring twice and with Marcus Butler and Jake Chidgey completing the rout. Steve Addicott (2) and Jack Taylor responded for Sportsman.
The cup comeback of the day occurred at Mansfield Park where home side Blake Old Boys fought back from 4-1 down to level the scores at 4-4 at the final whistle before sealing victory by beating visitors Maltshovel 6-5 on penalties. Jordan Meaker, Ryan Dray and two goals from shovel's N Hope had seemingly put the visitors in the driving seat but two free kicks from Mike Hart, a Kev Warre strike and a long range shot from Les Pope set Blake up for their dramatic spot kick finale.
Another eye-catching comeback came at Wookey where Coxley Rovers saw their 3-0 half-time lead overturned by an aggressive fightback from Bridgwater Wanderers in the second half as they went on to win 4-3 with some robust football that did not impress the Coxley management.
Quantock Pride, newly promoted to the First Division this season, have certainly caused a stir so far. Facing highly fancied Railway Club for the second week running, this time in the cup, they went even better than last week's surprise 4-2 victory by running out 8-2 winners on this occasion. Man of the match Sean O'Brien scored two cracking efforts while Paul Bawden, James Bawden and Ash Webber all scored two goals a piece as well. Lee Hemsley and Barry Hardwell struck back with Railway's consolation efforts.
Cannington have also started the new season in scintillating form as they scored nine goals without reply for the second week running, this time at home to Pawlett Reserves. Veteran marksman Darryl Taylor once again proved that age is no barrier as he racked up a five goal haul. Liam Barnett (2), Nathan Chillingworth and Dean Taylor put the seal on the win.
L&G can actually boast of having scored one goal more than Cannington this season so far as they followed on from last week's 7-1 win with a 12-0 demolition of Grasshoppers '05. The Hoppers reserves plans were thrown into disarray just before kick off when it emerged that the seven Slovakian debutants earmarked to play in this game had not shown up. However, this should not detract from L&G's fine performance, as they played with an assured confidence resulting from having been bolstered over the summer by a number of quality additions to their ranks. Andrew Riley led the way on this occasion with a hat-trick while Dean Fury and Lee Fury both bagged two each and Tommy Chidgey, Richard Meek, Daniel Hooper, Paul Horn and an own goal completed a convincing passage to the second round for the visitors.
Another team in prolific early season form are Huntspill Crowns who followed on from last week's 7-0 opening day league victory over Ramblers with an 8-0 cup win this time around, again over the same opponents as the cup draw once again pitched two teams in a successive league and cup head to head. Paul Burrow was the hero on this occasion with a four-goal salvo with a Paul Mantelow hat-trick and a further strike from Jeff Read sending the Crowns into round two with a flourish.
Flag Old Boys were also on song as they ran out convincing 6-1 winners over Admirals at their shared Cellophane Club ground. Skipper Lee White gave Flag an early lead before Admirals rallied and equalised midway through the first half. Then Danny Crossley scored either side of the break before a Jamie Stewart double and a Mike Taylor effort firmly secured Flag's passage into the second round, leaving Admirals to "concentrate on the league" for the time being.
Ashcott also hit six as they won 6-3 at Bower United for whom Matt Eckley(2) and Steve Hall scored the consolation goals.
Grasshoppers '04 are out of the cup but they at least gave opponents Red Tile a game this time around after an abject performance last week when they went down 7-1 to the same opponents in their opening league game. This time they managed to be more than a match for their visitors in the first period and will rue a host of missed chances that might have given them a decent lead at the break. As it was the game was scoreless at the interval and in the second period Tile eventually managed to break through a resolute hoppers defence and take the lead through Adam Evans. Tile player-boss Andy Staunton was then on hand with two poachers efforts in the six yard box to make the game safe for the Cossington side but the Hoppers can at least point to a hugely improved performance on their previous outing.
Maxwells progress to the second round with a walkover win after scheduled opponents Pawlett United were unable to raise a side for their tie.
Cup bye side Tiger Old Boys also had the luxury of progressing to round two without kicking a ball so were able to turn their attention to the league instead as they played a Division 1 game away to Commercial and duly went top of the early season table with an 8-3 win. Youngster Max Cushing was instrumental in the win with a superb second-half hat-trick while new signing Ian Bellinger bagged two goals with the ever-reliable Jamie Chillingworth, Lee Huntley and Matt Washer completing the victory. Matt Druce, Olly Pearce and Ben Norman replied for Commercial.
There was one game played in the second division with Woolavington Reserves winning 3-0 away at Abbey Moor.
(Story First Published: 09.09.07) |
