| Report:
ROB STRIKES
GOLD FOR ELEANOR TO BREAK WELDON HEARTS
Both sides made history when they met at Sixfields on Tuesday evening.
For Weldon, it was their first ever Cup Final appearance, and for
Eleanor their first since departing the Town League for Combination
football.
Having seen the
Premier Division title slip through their fingers, Weldon arrived at the
venue looking for redemption, with the cup representing their last
chance to salvage something from a season that had promised so much, yet
delivered so little.
Things began
brightly for Weldon who threatened to overwhelm Eleanor’s defence.
Michael Chong opened the scoring for Weldon on 7 minutes, both creating
and finishing the chance himself. Finding himself in the centre of the
area Chong knocked the ball down and past his marker before calmly
rolling the ball inside the far post.
Subsequent chances
fell to Richard Moore and Paul Djeneralovic, but neither player could
find the target, blazing the ball over. Moore wasted his chance after a
good run, while Djeneralovic could not capitalise after being found by
Gary Owen’s free-kick.
Eleanor began to
exert themselves in the game but could not turn their possession into a
chance on goal as the well-marshalled Weldon defence snuffed out their
moves every time. Weldon should have doubled their advantage on 43
minutes but a double block on the goal line from Jack Karare denied
Chong and Paul Doherty.
Having survived
that attack Eleanor pushed out forcing their opponents onto the back
foot, but again, the Weldon defence held firm.
It seemed that only a fluke or a moment of inspired play could
breach the Weldon rearguard, and so it proved on the stroke of
half-time. Finding himself some 35 yards from goal Eleanor’s Lloyd
Skidmore tried a speculative shot, swinging his left foot at a loose
bouncing ball. The effort may have been borne of desperation, but the
contact was clean and true, and the ball sailed over the head of Weldon
keeper Mark Mallard into the back of the net.
Despite the late
setback, Weldon came out for the second half determined to put the game
beyond their opponents. Just
seven minutes after the restart Richard Moore had the ball in the
Eleanor net for the second time. His headed strike however was ruled out
for offside. The resultant free-kick was played long up the field and
fell to Rob Goldring. His neat takedown and burst of speed beat the
Weldon offside trap, and it took a smart sliding challenge from Gary
Owen to prevent him from giving Queen Eleanor the lead.
Both sides eased
off the pressure soon after, with the flow of the game broken up by
cheap free-kicks and several substitutions. With five minutes of normal
time remaining, the Queen Eleanor defence seemed to collectively hit the
self-destruct button, and presented Weldon with a gilt-edged chance to
win the game. Weldon substitutes Graham Clarke and Anthony McClear were
given the time and space to manoeuvre their way through their opponents
rearguard at will, before McClear’s through-ball found Richard Moore.
He turned away from marker Tom Caton and burst into the penalty
area. Eleanor full-back Steve Botterill lunged in with a desperate last
ditch tackle which succeeded only in bringing Moore down as he prepared
to shoot. From there the outcome was inevitable. Weldon were awarded the
spot-kick and Botterill’s game was at an end as he saw red.
Chong stepped up
but sent a weakly struck shot along the ground and down the centre which
Eleanor stopper Max Collins easily cleared away with his feet, and
forcing the game into extra time.
The first period
passed without incident, as cramp and fatigue began to take their toll
on both sides. However, two minutes into the second period Rob Goldring
put Eleanor ahead. A deep cross field pass found him on the left-hand
side of the field. Goldring neatly collected the ball and profited when
his marker appeared to lose his footing just inside the area. Goldring
turned outside before firing in at the far post. Just two minutes later
Goldring had the chance to double his tally and put Eleanor clear, but
this time he was denied by Mallard.
Andrew Lambert wasted Weldon’s best chance midway through the
half, going for glory and firing well wide when he had teammates who
were better placed. Despite a series of three corners on the cusp of
full time, Weldon could not force an equaliser as Queen Eleanor claimed
the prize.
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