5th April 2014
AFA Surrey/Kent Intermediate Cup Final
West Wickham 2s 3:0 Old Strand Academicals 1s
Man of the Match - Dan Hulme
Muppet of the Match - James Bush
Lions tamed in AFA final
OSA’s heroic cup run may have come to an end but not before they showed the fighting spirit and banter that will make Gio Asserati’s men a force for years to come.
Stunning victories against Old Salesians and Merton earned the Strandies a shot at their first silverware on a Wembley-esque surface at Charterhouse school.
Unfortunately a rather pedestrian start to the first half allowed Wickham to dominate the early exchanges, with only a superb Rich Phillips challenge (he got the ball, honest) preventing Jamie ‘shin pads’ Gordon from gifting the opposition a glorious chance to open the scoring.
And things soon got worse when Wickham’s portly striker was left unmarked to gloriously slice the ball past England international Dan Hulme into the top corner.
The rest of the half didn’t get much better as the kid fetching the ball when it went out of play got more touches than OSA' wingers combined - despite Dan Hall running himself into the ground looking to get involved.
Asserati’s wise decision to haul off Grandpa Gordon at half-time in favour of a man with more hair and fewer hip replacements paid dividends after a strong start to the second period.
But the good work was undone after the ref, fresh from his half-time slumber, awarded Wickham a penalty against the run of play.
With the lead doubled, Berrylands’ finest went on the offensive but struggled to break down a solid defence, well protected by a holding midfielder.
Wickham kept three up top despite the pressure and would have been rewarded if not for some brilliant defending from the Academicals back four
Chances did come, but the ball refused to break in the area for the Strandies following some trademark set-pieces and Ben Payne couldn’t finish from the edge of the area after their best move of the match.
Late in the day, the officials somehow missed a late challenge on Hulme and Wickham capitalised as their nippy striker beat several men and slotted home a third.
Despite the disappointment of losing a 12-game unbeaten run, a league title is still very much on the cards and the second-half display, if reproduced, should be enough to comfortably see off lesser opposition.
OSA’s heroic cup run may have come to an end but not before they showed the fighting spirit and banter that will make Gio Asserati’s men a force for years to come.
Stunning victories against Old Salesians and Merton earned the Strandies a shot at their first silverware on a Wembley-esque surface at Charterhouse school.
Unfortunately a rather pedestrian start to the first half allowed Wickham to dominate the early exchanges, with only a superb Rich Phillips challenge (he got the ball, honest) preventing Jamie ‘shin pads’ Gordon from gifting the opposition a glorious chance to open the scoring.
And things soon got worse when Wickham’s portly striker was left unmarked to gloriously slice the ball past England international Dan Hulme into the top corner.
The rest of the half didn’t get much better as the kid fetching the ball when it went out of play got more touches than OSA' wingers combined - despite Dan Hall running himself into the ground looking to get involved.
Asserati’s wise decision to haul off Grandpa Gordon at half-time in favour of a man with more hair and fewer hip replacements paid dividends after a strong start to the second period.
But the good work was undone after the ref, fresh from his half-time slumber, awarded Wickham a penalty against the run of play.
With the lead doubled, Berrylands’ finest went on the offensive but struggled to break down a solid defence, well protected by a holding midfielder.
Wickham kept three up top despite the pressure and would have been rewarded if not for some brilliant defending from the Academicals back four
Chances did come, but the ball refused to break in the area for the Strandies following some trademark set-pieces and Ben Payne couldn’t finish from the edge of the area after their best move of the match.
Late in the day, the officials somehow missed a late challenge on Hulme and Wickham capitalised as their nippy striker beat several men and slotted home a third.
Despite the disappointment of losing a 12-game unbeaten run, a league title is still very much on the cards and the second-half display, if reproduced, should be enough to comfortably see off lesser opposition.