Weedon Reserves emerged comfortable 3-0 winners over Old Grammarians Reserves after dominating the tie throughout. Weedon owed their success in no small part to man of the match Chris Cowley, who played a part in all three goals.

Buoyed by their big win on Saturday, Weedon came into the tie full of confidence. Securing some silverware would go some way towards easing their disappointment at missing out on promotion to rivals Harpole ‘A’. Old Grammarians meanwhile were on a decent run themselves, unbeaten in the five preceding games, although they had failed to defeat their opponents in either league meeting.

From the outset however, the Wellingborough side found themselves on the back foot, as Weedon pressed hard. Any attempt at attack was stifled by Weedon’s midfield, who kept their opponents contained in their own half. On 11 minutes Weedon created the first of their many chances. The Old Grammarians defence struggled to clear the ball from their own penalty area, with nobody able to make a clean contact with the ball to clear it. Lee Sargisson looked to take advantage but his shot was comfortable claimed by Grammarians stopper Luke Bartaby. His long punt upfield almost let in Mark Fletcher but he was denied by the capricious bounce of the ball and Weedon keeper Dan Lloyd cleared the danger.

Within three minutes Weedon went 1-0 up. Chris Cowley, playing the link role between midfield and attack fed the ball to Josh Bellamy after a burst of pace took him clear of his man. Bellamy in turn took the ball to the goal-line and cut it back for Lee Sargisson. The angle was against him, but a decent finish saw him squeeze the ball beneath Bartaby’s body.

There was no let-up by Weedon as they robbed Grammarians of possession within seconds of the restart, and the ball found its way to Cowley. He set off on one of the runs that were to be his signature contribution of the evening, bursting into the penalty area. It seemed that the only way he could be stopped was by being brought down, and so it came to pass. The referee pointed to the spot, and Bellamy slammed the ball home for 2-0.

From there Weedon sat back happy to defend after their exertions, and soaked up anything that Old Grammarians could muster. Grammarians should have pulled a goal back on the stroke of half time, but Fletcher sliced his shot wide.

The second half began much as the first ended, until a scare thrust Weedon into action. Grammarians Alec Scallan found himself free in the area, but wasted the opportunity, trying for the spectacular finish, when a simple one was called for. Cowley immediately burst clear from the restart, but close pressure from Darryl Hescott – Grammarians stand-out performer on the night- forced him to roll the ball wide of the upright. 

On the hour mark, Cowley released Lee Sargisson with a pin-point ball. Running out of room after being herded towards the touchline, Sargisson floated the ball over to Gavin Oliff, who brought an excellent one-handed stop from Bartaby. Within three minutes, Cowley got the goal that his efforts deserved. Making his umpteenth lung-bursting run of the night, he beat his man on the edge of the circle, before winning the 1-on-1 with Bartaby.

As in the first half, Weedon stole possession from the kick-off and Cowley set off on a run which took four Grammarians defenders to stop him from doubling his tally. That proved his last contribution as he was taken off to rapturous applause and a deserved rest with 25 minutes to play. Devoid of the talisman, and comfortably in front, Weedon took their foot of the gas, but still continued to stifle Grammarians attacking forays. Deep into stoppage time, Weedon did create a final opportunity, with Josh Bellamy’s point-blank effort blocked on the line by Hescott.