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2007-2008 Season of the National Christian Cup and Trophy
The 2008 "Verite Creative Media" National Christian Cup Final
Saturday 3rd May 2008 at Nene Park Stadium, Rushden & Diamonds FC
St Wilfrids FC, Newcastle 3 - 2 Kings Sports FC, Herts
The 16th ever National Christian Cup Final was staged at a professional ground for the 9th year running. It was a "young stallion against an old warhorse" type of contest as well as another North vs South battle! St Wilfrids FC (Newcastle), in their first ever season in the NCC and indeed in only their 2nd year of existence, made it to the Final to play the "veterans" of the NCC competition, Kings Sports FC (Herts), who were making a record breaking 9th appearance. Despite having a very mixed season, having won only 1 in their first 11 but then only losing 2 out of the last 13, Kings Sports started very confidently, with St Wilfrids looking a bit nervous but excited about playing in such a big Final and in a great stadium. Kings passed the ball well and looked dangerous up front from the off, with their two quick wide players, Matt Straughton and Chris Haddow posing a lot of threat. The tall Kings centre forward, Chris Turner was also seeing a lot of the ball and indeed after only 10 minutes, it was his clever reverse through ball to 17 year old Straughton that put the youngster in behind the Wilfrids defence, to finish well under the advancing St Wilfrids keeper. Kings looked well composed but within 5 minutes made "a real schoolboy error" at the back when a Kings defender and their keeper dithered and allowed Scott Ormston, who caused Kings all sorts of trouble all afternoon, to get in between them to score. Kings stuttered for just a few minutes but fairly soon got back to playing some fluent and controlled football and went ahead again after 20 minutes when a good through ball from the influential Straughton, allowed Adam Cook to get a good sight of goal and shoot strongly across the keeper and into the far corner. Kings were now putting St Wilfrids under some pressure and should have gone 3-1 up when Straughton again beat his defender and his precise cross found Turner in acres of space with just the keeper to beat. However he chose to side foot the ball instead of smashing it in and somehow the keeper pulled off a sharp save!! This could well have been the turning point of the game. St Wilfrid's then made a tactical switch and brought off their left back, a difficult decision but the defender was struggling a little against the skill and speed of King's pacy winger Straughton and a change was needed. Within a few minutes St Wilfrids went down the other end and enjoyed another piece of confusion in the Kings defence when a pass back went straight to Ormston who then went on to strike the ball home. Kings were now somewhat dispirited and just 5 minutes later, 2 defenders ended up marking Ormston which left the other St Wilfrids forward, Chris Hamilton, free as a bird and he took the opportunity well by placing the ball wide of the despairing dive of Glen Dimmock. Kings were rattled and St Wilfrids proceeded to pour more pressure on Kings. They should have scored a fourth when another Kings defensive blunder allowed a St Wilfrids forward in but this time the ball found the side netting. HT 3-2! How would Kings deal with these series of setbacks? The half-time team talk was honest but all were encouraged to give the second half a real go! St Wilfrids looked a confident side now and kept pressing but Kings then made their own tactical change, probably a long time in coming(!?), switching the dominant Cook into the centre of defence. This seemed to have immediate effect and as the half wore on, Kings enjoyed more and more possession. However, what was to characterise this second period was how well St Wilfrids defended as they were able to soak up all the pressure that Kings threw at them and they also broke well. When they got the ball into the ever-dangerous Ormston, St Wilfrids looked threatening and had a couple of chances but now the Kings defence were better coping with these threats. At the other end, Darren Miller, who had found a new lease of life wide out left, hit a free kick against the cross bar but it was hooked to safety. Kings introduced the pace Tim Ajetunmobi but it had made little difference until he was put through and the little Nigerian found himself with a one on one but his shot went straight into the keepers arms. Despite much of the last 15 minutes being played out in the St Wilfrids penalty area, Kings did not have enough guile to break through the tough Newcastle defence. St Wilfrids held on for a hard earned victory although Kings will rue their first half errors! Jim Ferry, the St Wilfrids Manager, said, "The game was played at a good pace and with great respect for each other throughout. It could easily have gone either way but we played enough good football and showed great strength and composure at the back when needed, to hold out for the win! The game was also a really good showcase for what this competition is all about". Level 3 Referee, Wes Linden also commented, "this was the most sporting game that he had ever refereed and surely this is the way football should be played"!
The 2008 "Verite Creative Media" National Christian Trophy Final
Saturday 10th May 2008 at Nene Park Stadium, Rushden & Diamonds FC
Welwyn St Marys FC, Herts 1 - 3 St Peters Everton FC, Liverpool
Report to be published as soon as possible
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