In keeping with many professional clubs from the Premiership and Coca Cola Leagues, it was all the excitement of the Cup this weekend for a number of Uxella League teams as they contested the advanced stages of the main Sunday trophy competitions on a sunny but bitterly cold morning.
In the prestigious Somerset Cup, champions and Uxella League leaders Tiger Old Boys progressed to the last eight of the competition with a 1-0 away victory over Taunton side Perkin Warriors in a game which, despite the scoreline, really was one-way traffic for the Tigers. That they would win the game was never in doubt; it was just a question of when and that time didn't arrive until twenty seconds from the end of normal time when Paul Mear rose up like a salmon to head home the winner and avoid the need for extra time.
Meanwhile, in the Bridgwater district's jurisdiction, it was Quarter-Finals day in the all-divisional Dave Hobbs Cup. Artillery West Huntspill Boy's hitherto perfect season continues to come apart at the seams as they crashed out of the competition, going down 3-2 at home to Second Division Cross Rifles despite goals from Pete Thompson and Jeff Read. Lee Stentaford was man-of-the-match with two of the Rifles' goals with the other being a Paul Cornish penalty. It is a measure of how far Artillery have progressed, and the high standards they have set for themselves this season, that they will be disappointed to lose to a team from a higher division. However, they still have the Geoff Harvey Cup to contest and, barring an unlikely collapse in their final league fixtures, are nailed-on certainties to be Division Three champions when the season reaches a conclusion.
In the all-First Division clash Pig & Whistle got back to winning ways with a narrow 1-0 victory over Clearwater.
The other Dave Hobbs tie was an all-Second Division affair and it saw Huntspill Crowns progress through to the semi-finals at the expense of North Petherton after a 3-2 away win.
In the other all-divisional cup competition, the Tom Bell Trophy also entered it's Quarter-Final phase. In the first of the ties, Durleigh followed on from last week's impressive league victory over Pig & Whistle's first team by knocking third flight Pig & Whistle Reserves out of this competition with a 6-2 home win despite a brace of consolation goals from Pig Reserves' Mike Hart.
It was also a case of First Division against Third Division in another Tom Bell tie as Tor Sports entertained top-flight Admirals Landing. Again, the First Division side progressed through to the semis as Admirals ran out 7-3 away victors thanks to five goals from Kevin Andrews and further strikes from Lee Turner and Karl Jacinsky. Tor's three efforts were courtesy of Anthony Yeardsley and brothers Izam and Imed Hamrouni.
In a bruising all-Third Division encounter, which saw no less than eight bookings, home side Glastonbury Town Sundays ran out 5-2 victors over Countryman thanks to a four goal salvo from new signing Sam Davies and a further strike from Jason Lawford.
There was also one tie played in the Danny Markall Second Division Cup as Flag Old Boys entertained Tiger OB Reserves in the First Round of the competition and went down 4-2, mainly due to a fine hat-trick from Tigers' Craig Palmer. Flag's two responses came from Andrew White and Lee White.
(Story First Published: 27.02.05) |
