ESBFL – Tommy Thompson Cup Final – 2020/2021

TOMMY THOMPSON CUP FINAL – SEASON 2020 / 2021.

HATFIELD PEVEREL FC RESERVES: 4. BARNSTON AFC RESERVES: 2.

Date: Tuesday 1^st June 2021. Venue: The Royal Oak, Dovercourt.

Firstly, apologies for their being no match report for the Reserve Knock-Out Cup played on Monday and won by Stanway Pegasus FC Reserves by two goals to nil against Great Bentley FC Reserves, this was due to prior family arrangements and they took precedence!

Back to tonight and it would have been normal for our League Chairman, Brian Tatum to welcome everyone to this, the last of six cup finals played over the last ten days, sadly, Brian sadly passed away, on Thursday 20th May 2021, his presence and leadership over many seasons will be sorely missed, the League extends its condolences to his widow and family at this sad time.

The ESBFL feels proud that they managed to complete five, full Cup Competitions in the short time since lockdown eased once again in April, most Clubs have taken them seriously, problems were encountered along the way, but certainly the quality of the finals has been good and they have been watched by larger crowds than normal, with various new names added to those cups.

Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves had reached the final courtesy of victories over: Brightlingsea Town FC (7-1)., Frinton & Walton FC (6-0)., Rowhedge (8-1) and Tiptree Jobserve FC Reserves (2-0).

Barnston AFC Reserves on the other hand had overcome: Little Clacton FC (H-W)., Flitch United FC Reserves (A-W)., Felsted Rovers FC (1-0) and Great Bentley FC Reserves (3-0).

The appointed Match Officials would he experienced Simon Bird who would be assisted by Mariusz Buchan and Alfie Davidson with Jack McKechnie acting as the Fourth Official, and on a lovely warm evening the attendance was once again in the region of one hundred & twenty.

With both teams arriving with blue kits, the rules state that both teams should change to their respective “away” kits however that seemed to have caused a problem for Barnston AFC Reserves and it was only after the match that I was advised who was who! These things happen, however it was Barnston AFC Reserves who kicked off, Kin To shooting towards, keeper, Bates, the start was slow and laboured, over cautious perhaps but that’s a cup final for you especially when one team plays in a lower division. Cook thought he had been fouled, no chance according to the referee who had a clear view of the incident, Keeper, Bates launched a long ball forward, Chappell headed clear and White saw his shot deflected wide for a corner, the presence of Fennell racing through looked ominous until keeper, Johnson ( L) raced off his line to block with Arnold hitting the side netting. Chappell sent a long ball forward for Johnson (R) to chase winning a corner off Allen. Kin To, took the corner but only found the side-netting, bit of a waste really, a defensive error by O’Dwyer should have led to a goal for Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves but Fennell scuffed the chance wide of the target. Johnson (K) ran down the left side to gain a throw-in taken, long, by Kin To but no danger. Fennell was fouled running across the half-way line, Nial took the free-kick with Laird heading clear, Kin To was then hard into a challenge on White who was not impressed,, a long ball forward by Johnson (R) almost found Chappell but keeper, baes was quickly out and until now Barnston AFC Reserves had held their own and did not look fazed by the occasion.

A cross from Johnson (R) found the head of Cook whose fine header was tipped over the cross-bar by the alert keeper, Bates, a fine save in fact, a corner followed without any cause for concern, Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves responded with a break by Fennell, keeper, Johnson (L) advanced but the shot knocked a roof tile from the changing rooms, not even very close then! On twenty minutes, Johnson (K) made a break forward with Allen defending well but two minutes later Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves took the lead, a lofted ball forward from defence fell to HARRY ARNOLD who comfortably lobbed the ball over the advancing keeper, Johnson (L), so from being on the back-foot they were now ahead. Undeterred, Barnston AFC Reserves kept pushing forward, Cook slipped on way then the other before planting the ball over the cross-bar. That goal had stirred Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves into another gear, Johnson (R) chased a ball from Johnson (K) but Dawson intercepted, at the other end keeper Bates sent the ball long to Fennell who took on Chappell to gain a corner, Fennell took the corner and Chappell headed strongly away. Barnston AFC Reserves continued to play the ball out from defence with Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves closing down at every opportunity, Johnson (R) was the obvious target up front for Barnston AFC Reserves whilst Fennell held that role for Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves.

On the half hour mark Barnston AFC Reserves continued to push the ball around, Laird found Kin To, whose shot just cleared the cross-bar but once again Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves scored against the general run of play, a free-kick taken on the half-way line should have been fielded by the advancing keeper but STEFAN ASHDOWN latched onto the loose ball after a knock-down by Page who had beaten the keeper to the ball. Five minutes before half-time Barnston AFC Reserves scored themselves, Johnson (R) set up the chance and REES COOK buried the ball into the net, that should make the second half more interesting.

HALF-TIME: 2 – 1.

Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves re-started, this, the last match of a disjointed season, Kin To dived into another tasty challenge, this time a definite foul that led to a corner, taken by Fennell with Page guilty of heading the ball straight to keeper, Johnson (L), Fitzgerald (J) sent Fennell away to set up Page, who fluffed his return pass and Barnston AFC Reserves came away with the ball. Keeper, Johnson (L) made successive saves from Fennell first in a one-on-one then a dive to parry the shot from the rebound, however, Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves regained their two goal advantage when HARRY ARNOLD ran on to a loose ball inside the penalty area to rifle the ball high into the roof of the net. Barnston AFC Reserves hit back, Johnson (R) gained a corner off Ashdown, Cook took the corner-kick but there was an obvious infringement inside the Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves penalty area with McLaughlin spoken too by the referee. Barnston AFC Reserves gained another corner for their endeavours, Johnson (R) made the break, Dawson put the ball out, Westall took the corner and JAMIE McLAUGHLIN stole in to score from close range and forty minutes still to play.

Again, Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves wanted more goals themselves but were denied by a fine save from Johnson (L) who tipped the lobbed ball over the cross-bar from Fennell, a player who had seen a lot of the ball but had been very few chances to score. The corner, taken by Fennell was headed over the cross-bar by Dawson and on fifty-eight minutes Chappell was replaced by Elliot. McLaughlin got another attack going, Johnson (R) always a willing runner, gained possession and found Waterfield who dragged his shot wide and on sixty-three minutes Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves made a change replacing Page with Davies. Johnson (R) had another shot at goal, saved by keeper, Bates, then keeper, Johnson (L) launched a long ball forward to find Johnson (R) whose lay back fell to Kin To who rifled the ball wide with a rash shot. On sixty-seven minutes White, for Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves, ran through from the half-way line only to be met by the advancing keeper on the edge of the penalty area, a fine first save, but the ball ran free which allowed TOM WHITE to score with ease, game over!.

Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves continued their attacking momentum, Barnston AFC Reserves, I thought, had started to tire, Fennell ran through to set up Arnold, but defender Laird put in a fine challenge to deny the player on a hat-trick! On seventy minutes Arnold set up Davies but the effort was cleared, Barnston AFC Reserves replaced Mclaughlin with Monk and Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves replaced Fitzgerald (J) with his twin brother, Fitzgerald (S) and a further change followed with Nial being substituted for Woodcock. Barnston AFC Reserves, keeper, Johnson (L) was again quickly out at the feet of Fennell and from his clearance Johnson (R) gave chase with Dawson getting there first to shield the ball out for a goal-kick. Dawson then pulled up with what looked like a bout of cramp, having to leave he field after treatment, O’Dwyer sent a shot towards keeper, Bates but followed that up with a rash challenge on Allen, both players were cautioned and O’Dwyer was sensibly substituted with Croxton taking his place. As we drifted into time added-on White was cautioned for delaying the re-start and the final action saw Arnold burst through only for keeper Johnson (L) to intervene and save.

FULL TIME: 4 – 2.

After the match had finished, John Campany, Vice-Chairman of the ESBFL made a short speech commending both teams for providing a decent game of football for the many spectators and thanked Tony Armstrong, Chairman of Harwich & Parkeston FC for the use of their facilities and hospitality this evening.

The Match Officials were given a round of applause before accepting their mementoes’ then Chay Westall, Captain of Barnston AFC Reserves, lifted the Runners-Up Trophy whilst Owen Dawson, Captain, of victors Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves picked up the Winners’ Trophy.

Now let me turn to my “Star Player” as it was a Cup Final, I usually choose a player from each team:

For Barnston AFC Reserves, their game plan was probably to nullify goal machine Fennell and largely they succeeded but there were decent performances throughout the team, notably keeper, Johnson (L) and whilst it was hard to determine who was who, due to the change of shirt colours and numbering before kick-off several other players stood out, central defender Chappell missed very little before going off late in the game, Westall led by example, Waterfield looked lively up-front, the other Johnson brothers (R & K) also worked hard but none-more-so than Che Kin To in midfield, never shirking a challenge, good distribution and a high work rate throughout .

For Hatfield Peverel FC Reserves, whilst they had more overall possession, they had to work hard against the opposition from a Division below and took their chances when presented. Defensively they looked sound, led by Dawson and White, Beadle, Nial and Ashdown ran midfield with the pace of Fennell and Arnold causing problems, the latter with two goals and probably an assist gets my vote.

Right, that’s it from me for another disjointed season, I’ve seen less games, players have played less games, however, the ESBFL continues to flourish, there are a dozen new applicant clubs waiting to join, all will be decided at the re-arranged AGM to be held on Tuesday 29^th June 2021, this will hopefully be a face to face meeting at Stanway Rovers FC, in the mean-time enjoy your summer, heed the advice about COVID-19 and lets start next season in August with this pandemic being a distant memory…………………..

Teams:

HATFIELD PEVEREL FC RESERVES:

Change Colours: Red & White Stripes, Black Shorts and Black Socks.

Team:

Jamie Bates., Stuart Allen., James Fitzgerald., Joe Beadle., Owen Dawson., Tom White., Lewis Nial., Stefan Ashdown., Andrew Fennell., Harry Arnold., Harry Page.

Manager: Steve Harding.

Assistant Managers: Scott Fitzgerald., James Fitzgerald & Dan Harding

Used Substitutes: Scott Fitzgerald., Jamie Woodcock., Thomas Davies

Unused Substitutes: Anthony Lloyd., Jack Fox.

BARNSTON AFC RESERVES:

Change Colours: Lime Shirts, Lime Shorts and Lime Socks.

Team:

Luke Johnson., Harry O’Dwyer., Jamie McLaughlin., James Laird., Adam Chappell., Che Kin To

Rees Cook., Chay Westall., Nathan Waterfield., Ryan Johnson., Kyle Johnson.

Manager: Gary Johnson.

Assistant Manager: Richard James.

Used Substitutes: Larry Croxton., Curtis Elliot., Peter Monk.