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Tuesday 7th September 2010
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Matches played Saturday 29th March 2008
Swiss thwart Kingburn by setting up date with Blackburn Leisure in Junior Final.
A pleasant morning gradually gave way to damp and, at times, extremely windy and bitterly cold conditions last weekend when the Amateur League Junior Cup semi finals were stages side by side at Springhead Lane.
For the second successive season, Kingburn Athletic 2nds had progressed to the semi final stage, and this time were extra keen to progress one step further - to the final – and thereby provide a fitting finale to the playing days of around 35 years for unassuming veteran Ian Thomson.
Swiss Cottage stood in the way of Kingburn, and were keen to add another senior scalp to the two already claimed in this competition and took the game to Kingburn from the off, refusing to give their opponents any time on the ball and took the lead in the 17th minute when Ben Bassett went on a great run down the left wing, beating two defenders before sending over a pin-point cross from which Shaun Scotthorne deftly side footed the ball past Kingburn keeper Keith Simmonds.
The football swung from end to end, with Kingburn possibly shading the exchanges, but while both sides created chances, the respective keepers pulled off some great saves and the score stayed unchanged at the interval.
The game remained evenly poised during the first period of the second half, until a brilliant through ball from Paul Allen beat the offside trap set by Kingburn, and Shaun Scotthorne was left in the clear and with only keeper Simmonds to beat, slotted the ball neatly into the net to give Swiss a two goal lead.
Kingburn peppered the Swiss goal for the next 15 minutes but the defensive line held firm and on a counter attack Ben Bassett broke through the Kingburn defence and lobbed the ball over the keeper to put Swiss into an unassailable lead.
Kingburn refused to give up the fight and were rewarded with a goal in the 65th minute from Andy Devine but no further inroads into the deficit were possible despite the continuing entertaining football served up, and the Swiss team booked a date in the final on the 26th April, while Kingburn’s dream for the perfect farewell for Ian Thomson was left in tatters.
The semi finalists on the adjoining pitch were Hessle Sporting ‘C’ and Blackburn Leisure, and both were concerned pre-match that key players were missing, but the affect of this were more apparent on the young Hessle side, who, within the first five minutes of the game appeared a little shell shocked at Blackburn’s ability to pass and move and carve open their defence and it wasn't long before the gulf in class began to show.
Good interplay between Mike Payne and Andy Dawson on the right saw full back Payne swing over a dangerous cross which striker Liam Bristow got the faintest of touches to, to direct the ball into the net and set the ball rolling.
Soon afterwards, following another flowing Blackburn move, Chris Hunt rifled home a rebounded Paul Preston shot to settle any nerves that the Brough side may have had, and it was not long before Preston himself added to the tally with a superbly placed free kick to make it 3-0.
With only minutes to go in the first half Blackburn were awarded a free in a position similar to that which had proved so beneficial earlier, and on this occasion the sweet left foot of Phil Ainley left stand-in keeper Craig Edgers no chance.
Going into the break at 4-0 the tie appeared to be well and truly over, and it was fair to say that the protection afforded to Blackies keeper Wes Lambert, who was standing in for broken finger victim Danny Parkinson, had meant he had hardly been called upon to touch the ball.
Hessle came out for the second half exuding a greater determination and started to push players forward which saw them rewarded with a well taken goal when their striker beat the offside trap and blasted home.
However this setback for Blackies was quickly eradicated when top marksman Barry Loughlin rifled home the first of his brace. Frustration in the Hessle camp was beginning to spill onto the pitch and following a severe two-footed challenge by a Blackburn defender, tempers flared leading to the dismissal of a player from each team.
Hessle managed to nick another goal but Blackburn again restored their decisive advantage with Barry Loughlin's second goal of the afternoon, rounding off a deserved victory for the Brough side, who make their second appearance in three years in the final of this competition.
The progress of the League Senior Cup had proved problematical as constant fixture cancellations due to adverse weather and accommodating outside competitions had left Eddie Beedle and Kingburn Athletic with one last chance to settle their clash, before creating problems with semi final arrangements.
Thankfully, the pitch at Thornfields in Thorngumbald was declared playable, and Beedle set about reducing the two-goal deficit which existed following the first leg meeting of the sides.
Their anticipated turnaround of the tie did not go according to plan as Kingburn further extended their advantage with a goal from Ricky Johnson, and a second success from Kamen Edwards effectively put the game beyond Beedle, who, nevertheless grabbed a possible lifeline when Mike Wilkinson reduced the deficit.
Kingburn restored their aggregate advantage to four goals when Marcus Robinson added his name to the score sheet, while the final goal of the game, again scored by Beedle’s Mike Wilkinson was no more than a consolation goal, concluding the match at 3-2, but, the tie, on aggregate, was a wider 5-2 margin.
Any lingering hopes that Pinefleet Wolfreton Reserves had of catching Inter Charter at the top of the Premier League were extinguished when Crown deservedly beat them at a wet and windy Malet School.
Pinefleet, with the elements at their backs in the first period, opened brightly and enjoyed plenty of possession without creating many chances, and almost inevitably, the home side opened the scoring when Pinefleet failed to defend a free kick and Crown scored with a shot off the post.
Pinefleet bounced back and equalised a few minutes later when Mally Brown latched onto a through ball, outstripped the defence, and coolly slotted home.
Crown regained the lead in controversial circumstances with Pinefleet convinced a cross had gone dead before being blown back into play, but while the Pinefleet defence stopped, Crown played to the whistle and put the ball into the net for a 2-1 lead.
Still aggrieved about the decision, Pinefleet went further behind when a poor defensive header fell to the feet of a Crown attacker who lashed home a terrific shot.
The second period, as the conditions worsened, produced a lot of effort but few clear cut chances and Crown comfortably maintained their two goal advantage against a Pinefleet side who are misfiring at the moment – but hope to bounce back in their imminent League Cup semi final.
Their first undisputed point took a long time in arriving, but The Courts AFC have stuck to their task in Division 2 despite some heavy setbacks, and against Cottingham Hotspur 2nd at Northgate Playing Fields, a defeat again looked to be in the offing as Cottingham went into the lead with goals from Chris Johnson and Leon Drury but this possibly lulled the home side into a false sense of security and the Courts fought back and goals from Tom Grantham and Ryan Prescott levelled the scores with 20 minutes remaining.
From this point Courts keeper, Paul Creasey, and not for the first time this season, became the side’s hero as he stood firm, assisted by the posts and crossbar which took some hammer, as did the hedges behind the goal…..but Courts were determined not to relinquish that point!!
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Match Reports
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24th April 2010
17th April 2010
10th April 2010
3rd April 2010
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