Harold Wood Athletic 5 Frenford Senior 3 - Mid Essex
Premier League Cup Final
Wood went in to this cup final looking to shake the unlucky
runners up tag that has dogged them for the past two seasons. Manager Rafis was
without leading scorer Del Francois so partnered Gilmore with Sampson up front
and Hammond slotted in at centre half instead of the banned Ribbits.
The game started slowly with neither side
producing their best football, until 10 minutes in when Coster beat his man and
cut inside to place a swerving shot past the outstretched hand of the keeper –
1-0. Wood then pressed forward and maintained attacking pressure for 10 minutes
without really creating any chances. Frenford were then presented with a poor
pass in defence which led to them running through and equalising.
Gilmore restored Wood’s lead with a typically
powerful run straight through defender and keeper to force the ball home. Wood
settled too deep and promptly allowed Frenford to equalise again as they failed
to deal with a ball in to the box which their forward nodded down for an easy
chance. 2-2 at half time, goals but not great football.
The second half saw Peter
Ayrisire replace Sampson up front and his impact was massive. Wood were able to
feed the ball to him and he held it up well enabling the midfield to join the
attacks. The third goal came as Ayrisire did well to keep the ball in on the
left, then beat his man and fed a through ball to Gilmore who smashed a left
foot shot home. There followed a raft of chances for both sides, Oldfield and
Cork going close as well as Frenford pressing hard
- one of which produced an excellent double save
from Worsdell.
Gilmore scored Wood’s 4th and completed his
hat-trick as he headed in a right wing corner, leaving Wood 4-2 up and firmly in
the driving seat. There were still 15 minutes to go though, and Frenford were by
no means out if it yet. Preece and Hammond both made crunching tackles to deny
Frenford’s attack and preserve the lead, but Frenford still managed to find a
way through as everyone seemed to stop as the ball broke in the box and a slow
motion chip beat Worsdell.
Wood’s nerves were to be spared however as Cork
danced through several tackles to slot home from 16 yards and put the final nail
in the coffin. The excellent Ayrisire had a couple of late chances, but the job
was done and Wood finally and deservedly got their hands on the trophy.
Team: Worsdell; Rafis, Hammond, Preece, Walsh; Coster (Smy
80), Cork, Edwards, Oldfield; Gilmore, Sampson (Ayrisire 45).
Star Man: Gilmore - Steve Bull in disguise.
Preece lifts the trophy