Final Match Reports

2021-2022

With the Covid-19 pandemic still in everyones minds and the threat that the competition this season may not be completed when we began in August 2021, it was amazing to see such a healthy crowd at Tucker Park on May 5th to watch Clanfield (85) FC and Letcombe FC compete for the trophy, with 140 spectators in attendance.

Letcombe FC’s pathway to the final saw the following close results.
1st Rd – East Hendred 3 – 1
2nd Rd – Wantage Town Dev 3 – 1
Semi – Procision (Oxford) 2 – 1
Clanfield (85) FC progressed opening with a heavy victory but had to go to penalties in the semi-final.
1st Rd – Cricklade Town 8 – 1
2nd Rd – Highworth Town Res 2 – 0
Semi – Shrivenham FC Dev 1 – 1 (Clanfield (85) FC won 5 – 4 on penalties)

It was a bright and warm evening at Tucker Park, with both squads having a youthful appearance about them. Letcombe had the first effort on goal after 5 minutes when Ben Marshall hit a well struck volley from 20 yards, but it failed to test Clanfield (85) keeper Corey Kelly. Clanfield (85) were gradually working the ball through the midfield and on the 12th minutes, they took the lead when left back Eliot Want managed to reach a ball on the Letcombe byline and pull the ball back for striker Kyle Chester, who chested the ball home from six yards. Clanfield (85) FC 1 – 0 Letcombe FC.

Clanfield (85) were in the ascendancy with Letcombe failing to get a grip on the game and a well worked move involving Chester and Tommy Taylor down the right hand side saw the latter cross for skipper Finlay Heritage, who met the ball at the near post, but his flicked effort hit the side netting, without testing Letcombe No.1, Danny Joyce. Letcombe were being limited to long range efforts by the well marshalled Clanfield (85) back-line, As the half came to a close, Letcombe finally brought Kelly into action, when skipper Josh Fowler crossed for James Pearson, which was pushed to safety by the Clanfield (85) keeper.

Letcombe came out fighting in the second period and within two minutes of the restart, Fowler again provided an opportunity for his side, as he flashed a ball across the Clanfield (85) six yard box from the left, but midfielder Dan Pear failed to get a touch on the ball to redirect it towards the goal. Ten minutes later and centre back Sam Mulvey had his header well saved by Kelly, when meeting a cross. Clanfield (85) then began to take control of the game again, but without testing Joyce in the Letcombe goal. However, on 78 minutes Chester doubled his tally for the match, when he went on a mazy run from the right of the Letcombe penalty area, sitting Joyce down and then calmly finishing left footed past a covering defender on the goal-line. Clanfield (85) FC 2 – 0 Letcombe FC.

With a two goal deficit, Letcombe now had to come chasing an immediate response and on 82 minutes, they thought they had halved the scoreline, as Pearson struck a sweet volley, which crashed against the underside of the Folly View End goal and bounced down towards the goal-line. The Letcombe players and officials were adamant the ball had crossed the line, however the match officials disagreed and the game played on. Comments from both sets of players, would indicate the ball had crossed the line, however with the assistant match official being in line with the backline of Clanfield (85), some 20 odd yards away from the goal, it was impossible for him to give a clear indication of the ball crossing the line.

Letcombe continued to push and with the game coming to a close, they were awarded a penalty in the third minute of injury time as a Clanfield (85) defender was adjudged to have handled the ball, defending a Letcombe cross into his penalty area. The resulting spot-kick was well struck by Pear, however Kelly produced a terrific save to his left hand side to thwart Letcombe and as the ball bounced to safety, the final whistle was blown by Match Official Paul Booth, who had an excellent game, assisted by his assistants, Coby Woodley and Simon Witting plus fourth official, Duncan Francis

At the presentations, Kyle Chester was awarded Man of the Match for his two goals, before Berks & Bucks FA President, Bill McKnight handed over the Faringdon Thursday Memorial Cup to Clanfield (85) Fc skipper Finlay Heritage.

2020-2021

The competition was not played, due to the Covid-19 pandemic

2019-2020

The competition was suspended following the second round of ties in March 2019, following the worldwide breakout of the Covid-19 pandemic. This saw the semi-finals and final not played until April and May 2021. The final saw two uhlsport Hellenic Division Two South sides, Letcombe FC & Wantage Town Development meet at Tucker Park, for what was a real local derby, with only 2.2 miles separating the club grounds.

Letcombe FC’s pathway to the final saw the following results.
1st Rd – Fairford Town Res 4 – 0
2nd Rd – Abingdon Town Dev 2 – 1
Semi – The Globe FC (Swindon) 2 – 1
Wantage Town Development progressed without conceding a goal.
1st Rd – NALGO Sports Club 2 – 0
2nd Rd – Hanborough FC 5 – 0
Semi – Cricklade Town 2 – 0

The final saw the two sides match up and the opening minutes was littered with free kicks, with the battle ensuing. Letcombe FC had the opening chance of the game as midfielder Ben Hummell made a run from midfield to latch onto a ball played over the static Wantage backline, only to see his cross shot sail wide of the far post, without testing the Harry Whitehead in the Town goal. Wantage then began to take some control of the game and Letcombe’s Danny Joyce had to be on his toes when he first pulled off a fantastic one handed save from a Kieron Kerby volley and then moments later following a spill of the ball, Joyce saved the rebound from close range, before one of his defenders put his body on the line to clear for a corner.

On the half hour and the deadlock was broken when Kerby produced great skill on the wing, taking on his defender, before crossing to striker Jack Badger who scored with easy for the lead. Shortly after and it was 2-0, when Luke Faircloth’s corner from the left was mis-judged by thwe Letcombe defender and Joyce, with the ball nestling in the net.

The second half was a mostly turgid affair as both sides failed to gain any kind of momentum or flowing football. Whitehead in the Town goal was rarely troubled with his backline standing strong to any Letcombe attack. As the match came to a close, Wantage did appeal for a penalty when a cross from the right hit the hand of a Letcombe defender, however the match officials felt the arm was not in an unnatural position and the appeals were waved away. Referee Chris Pettis blew the whistle for full time and Wantage celebrated local bragging rights and deservedly lifted the trophy.

At the trophy collection, Wantage Town’s Jack Badger was awarded the Man of the Match award, whilst captain Luke Stone lifted the trophy as winning captain.

2018-2019

This years final saw two sides competing in their first-ever competitive fixture between the two sides. North Berks Division One champions Saxton Rovers took on Wheatsheaf Stratton FC from the Swindon & District Premier Division who had finished fourth this season.
Saxton had arguably the harder path to the final.
1st Rd – Highworth Town Res 3 – 0
2nd Rd – Wantage Town Dev 1 – 1 (5 – 4 on pens)
Semi – Letcombe FC 3 – 2
Wheatsheaf had been handed two fixtures due to varying reasons, however still had to overcome the reigning cup holders.
1st Rd – Purton (Pitch unplayable)
2nd Rd – Wroughton FC 2 – 2 (5 – 3 on pens)
Semi – Carterton Town (Club folded)
Saxton on paper were the favorites going into the tie, having also lifted the North Berks Charity Shield the previous weekend, whilst Wheatsheaf were in cup final action themselves the weekend after this tie. Saxton started brightly and didn’t take long to break the deadlock as on 13 minutes as an initial near post effort hit the upright and the rebound struck an unlucky Wheatsheaf defender before the ball rolled in the goal. On 20 minutes, Wheatsheaf had their first meaningful effort on goal as they seized on a poor Rovers keeper throw out but the keeper redeemed himself with an excellent save to his right. Moments later and Saxton doubled their lead, a terrific Crossfield ball from the right found striker Niall Hodgkinson who headed home past the despairing keeper. The Swindon side didn’t give up and with 10 minutes of the first half remaining, a quick breakaway saw a great strike on goal by the Stratton winger, but the Rovers keeper wasn’t to be beaten as his outstretched right foot deflected the ball against the angle of the goal and away for a corner kick.
The second period saw Saxton put the game to bed within three minutes of the restart, as Hodgkinson doubled his goal tally as he headed home from close range for a 3-0 Rovers lead. The rest of the half was huff and puff from Wheatsheaf, whilst Rovers were playing well within themselves and the game petered out to the final whistle.
Presentations were my by Berks & Bucks Chief Executive Liz Verrall to the Faringdon Town Boys who acted as ball-boys on the night, to the man of the match Louis Bloomfield (Saxton skipper) before the trophy was presented to Saxton Rovers to lift in front of a healthy following from Abingdon.

2017-2018 Season

The final at our hosts Faringdon Town FC ground, Tucker Park welcomed 2017 Wiltshire League winners Wroughton FC and Uhlsport Hellenic League Division 1 West side North Leigh compete.

Wroughton’s road to the final had seen two penalty shoot outs:
1st Rd – Wroughton FC 6 v 1 FC Dorcan
2nd Rd – Wroughton FC 1 v 1 Highworth Town Res (Wroughton FC won 5-4 on pens)
Semi – Wroughton FC 4 v 4 Letcombe FC (Wroughton FC won 3-1 on pens)

North Leigh United’s trail appear far easier with some heavy victories:
1st Rd – Carterton FC 0 v 3 North Leigh Utd
2nd Rd – North Leigh Utd 14 v 1 Poulton FC
Semi – North Leigh Utd 5 v 0 Saxton Rovers

Squads:

Wroughton FC: 1: Simon Lowe, 2: Tyler Wilkinson, 3: Craig Bowden, 4: Gareth Davies, 5: Chris Flanagan (c), 6: Lee Curtis, 7: Liam Griffin, 8: Jamie McLaughlin, 9: Shane Hibbert, 10: Jordan Lea, 11: Jack Hill, 12: Riegan Cook, 14: Stuart Beggs, 15: Sam Long

North Leigh United: 1: Gareth Walker, 2: Podraig Folan, 3: Tristan Smith, 4: Lewis White, 5: Matthew Spooner, 6: Jonathon Roberts, 7: Ben Strong, 8, Jamie McCuaig, 9: Delan Shepherd, 10: Ryan Jackson, 11: Ben Green, 12: Dominic White, 14: Corey Forbes, 15: Unknown Evans

The Tucker Park pitch was looking great before kick off, plenty of grass and well prepared for the two side to do battle. Wroughton started the brighter and after a couple of close openings went ahead on 10 minutes, when Tyler Wilkinson finished smartly. The rest of the half was keenly contested with Wroughton FC mainly on top, but they failed to capitalise on their chances.

Second half and Wroughton doubled their led when midfielder Jamie McLaughlin finished well to double Wroughton’s lead on the hour mark. North Leigh started to gain momentum and they were rewarded when Evans fired an excellent free kick past Wroughton keeper Simon Lowe to set up a grandstand finish with 15 minutes remaining. United pushed for the equaliser but their cause was disrupted by the sending off of Ben Strong in the final minutes and Wroughton held out to take their third Faringdon Thursday Memorial Cup win in four years.

2016-2017 Season

This seasons’ final on May 4th 2017 at Tucker Park, saw two Uhlsport Hellenic League Division 1 West sides, compete Letcombe FC & Clanfield (85) FC for the coveted trophy, in a repeat of the 1996/97 final.

Letcombe FC had overcome Faringdon Town on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the opening round, Fairford Town 2-0 in the quarter final and Lechlade 87 AFC 5-1 in the semi final. Their opponents Clanfield (85) FC had beaten Coleshill Utd 3-0 in the 1st Round, Kintbury Rangers in the quarter final 3-1 and finally a 4-1 victory over Highworth Town Reserves in the semi final two weeks previous.

It was a cold blustery evening with the wind strangely blowing up Tucker Park at the backs of Clanfield. The match started very cagey and the opening half was devoid of any real quality play on a fine playing surface provided by our hosts Faringdon Town FC. Midway through the half and both teams created half chances in quick succession. Clanfield winger Zak Olliver carved open a chance when driving into the area, past the Letcombe full-back, but his shot went the wrong side of the near post, hitting the side netting. From the resulting goal kick, Letcombe carved open a chance for striker Richard Claydon, but he was unable to gather the ball cleanly, when well placed in front of goal.

As the half continued, Clanfield gained a slight advantage with Dan Gardiner at the forefront of most pf their attacks, notably on 35 minutes when he turned on the edge of the Letcombe penalty area and unleashed a left footed strike, however it was straight at Danny Joyce in the Letcombe goal. As the half came to a close, the best chance of the match fell to Clanfield, as an in swinging right footed cross from the left hand side, evaded the Letcombe defence and reached Olliver at the far post, who headed goal-wards from 6 yards, only to see the ball go straight into the grateful Joyce’s arms. The half closed with Clanfield in the ascendancy.

With the healthy crowd finding the cold wind more akin to October than May, they hoped for a rather more exciting second period to warm them up. With the half only seconds old, Letcombe centre half Tom Broad almost opened the scoring, as his attempted back pass to his keeper Joyce, missed it’s intended target and narrowly missed the goal, much to Clanfield’s dismay. Letcombe were trying to build some momentum, but the final pass was often missing, however they did sting the hands of Mike Bawn in the Clanfield goal from 20 yards, which he did well to hold. Soon after & Olliver made a diagonal run into the Letcombe area and looked odd’s on to score, but he lacked composure and blazed the ball over the goal. Letcombe again tested Bawn with a long range effort, but again it was straight at him and easily handled. With 20 minutes remaining, the deadlock was broken when a free kick from just inside the Letcombe half was played into the penalty area, finding Chris Blakely at the far post, whose diving header went across goal, past the stranded Joyce to give Clanfield a 1-0 lead.

This seemed to knock the stuffing out of Letcombe, with the Clanfield back line looking very comfortable and in the dying moments the lead was double as teenage substitute Harvey Savin, received the ball onto his chest, before volleying high into the goal, before celebrating with his team-mates.

Despite one last long range effort with the last kick of the game being well saved by Bawn, the game ended with Clanfield collecting the trophy for the first time in 20 years.