EOFL Denny King Memorial Cup Final, Thursday 28th April
The Essex Olympian League Denny King Memorial Trophy came to an end for 2021/22 as Snaresbrook and Runwell Sports did battle in what was an all Division One battle at Basildon United's Gardiners Close ground, and it ended in dramatic fashion for sure, but more about that later.
Before we look back at how the competition played out this season to arrive at this final tie, let's see who this competition was named after. Denny King was football, was involved with Ramsden FC for over three decades and was their club president for the final three years of his life, although he been involved in various capacities before that.
Denny loved football, and was at his happiest on a Saturday, preparing the pitch and welcoming all to his beloved village side, and he was recognised by Chelmsford Borough Council when they awarded Denny for 'The Best Kept Village Sports Ground' to reward him for his commitment, skill and hard work at Ramsden FC.
Denny also worked as a groundsman at Billericay Town, and the competition we know today as The Denny King Memorial Cup was named after the legend and his family donated the trophy to the league in his honour, with the first competition being held in the 1999/2000 season, which was won by Manford Way, who defeated Barnston AFC in the final.
Therefore all teams that enter this competition know who they are playing in memory of, and no doubt Denny himself would be proud of this competition named in his honour, and of his family who donated the trophy for this tournament and to make sure that his legacy lives on, let's now see how the 2021/22 version of this competition panned out and set up the finale here at Basildon United.
This was the first competition since the 2018/19 season due to covid, which saw the cancellation of the 2019/20 and 2020/21 editions, so Ongar Jubilee held onto the trophy for quite some time after they defeated Harold Wood Athletic in the last contested final three years ago, and the final was the sixteenth and final tie of this 2021/22 edition, and below are the results of those ties:-
Round One
Southend Manor Development 2 Snaresbrook 4
Round Two
Snaresbrook 1 Roydon 0
AS Rawreth 3 Leytonstone United 0
Old Chelmsfordians 6 Wakebury 1
Old Barkabbeyans 2 Beacon Hill Rovers 4
Pitsea Athletic 2 Runwell Sports 6
Rochford Town 1 Collier Row 3
Wakering Sports 1 Hullbridge Sports 1 (Wakering Sports won 5-4 on penalties)
Shoebury Town 2 Manford Way 2 (Manford Way won 4-3 on penalties) (I attended this game myself so for my blog on this one click here http://pedroslocalfootiefix.blogspot.com/2022/02/shoebury-town-2-manford-way-2-manford.html)
Quarter Finals
Snaresbrook 1 Wakering Sports 1 (Snaresbrook won 7-6 on penalties)
Runwell Sports 1 AS Rawreth 0
Old Chelmsfordians 1 Manford Way 2
Collier Row 6 Beacon Hill Rovers 0
Semi Finals
Snaresbrook 0 Manford Way 0 (Snaresbrook won 5-4 on penalties)
Runwell Sports 2 Collier Row 1
So to the final then, Snaresbrook actually had to win four ties to reach this final, they were part of the only fixture in round one and their last two ties had gone to penalties, wheras Runwell Sports played one less tie to reach the final and had won them all outright in ninety minutes, although this meant absolutely nothing for this game. Let's now see what happened in the final which of course I was present at:-
Final (at Basildon United)
Snaresbrook 1 Runwell Sports 1 (Runwell Sports won 9-8 on penalties)
These two as said earlier in the blog both play in Division One of the Olympian League, Runwell came runners up to Toby (there is a story behind this but I am not going to get into that!!!) and therefore won promotion to the Premier Division for next season, whereas Snaresbrook are second bottom although as this game showed that is a very false position, the club have four games to play after this final and could finish in midtable if they pick up maximum points.
Both games between these two sides were very tight during the league season as well, seeing a 2-2 draw at Hackney Marshes and a 2-1 Runwell win at their Nursury Ground, so this final was expected to be tight as well if those games were anything to go by.
Despite all this though, Runwell were expected to win this, and finish their season with some silverware after they had the league title taken away from them through no fault of their own (as said not getting into that!!!) and after such a good campaign it was the least they deserved, but Snaresbrook themselves were desperate for some silverware to put some gloss on a season that has ultimately been a tough one so far.
Runwell should have been two up inside five minutes, but missed two good chances, and then after six minutes saw themselves go behind after some rather messy defending eventually saw a loose ball fall to Ife Ogunbayo who could not miss from point blank range, and Snaresbrook had the lead, and it was to be pretty much their only attempt on goal for the remainder of the period.
This is because Runwell continued to have most of the play but found their forwards lacking their shooting boots shall we say as several chances came and went, and they were all left scratching their heads as to how they were behind at the break, a rousing team talk at half time was needed, whereas for Snaresbrook they just had to keep digging in and doing what they were doing.
Twelve minutes after the break though, Runwell did find that leveller as a ball into the mixer found Charlie Little and he headed home, and you felt at that point Runwell would push on and win the game, but this did not happen as they lost their way somewhat after equalising as Snaresbrook gained a second wind and more than competed for the remainder of the contest.
Snaresbrook are a very hard working side, and you can see why both their league games were so tight, but they were almost undone late on when Little found himself with the goal at his mercy but a last ditch defensive tackle thwarted him, it was a goal saving tackle that was for sure, and typified Snaresbrook's grit and determination.
Snaresbrook themselves almost won it late on, seeing a corner thump off the crossbar, but neither side could find a winner and so the final would go to penalties, meaning Snaresbrook's third in a row in this competition. It was to be a dramatic one too.
Both sides missed their opening penalties, with the Runwell one going miles over the bar, and then at 3-3 Snaresbrook saw Josh Hudson make his second save of the shoot out, meaning Runwell had the chance to win it, but that penalty went even higher over the bar then the first one, so 3-3 heading into sudden death.
Runwell had another chance to win it, but saw that penalty saved by Canel Hassan, and then after going through the entire eleven, including the keepers, we were tied at 7-7 after eleven spots kicks each, were on earth would the shoot out go next.
Back to the first penalty takers again, who had both missed remember, well Hudson saved again meaning Runwell had a third match point, and this time they buried their spot kick to win the shoot out 9-8 and take the trophy, what drama and what a way for this competition to end for the season. No doubt Denny King would have enjoyed this and would have been smiling down from above.....
Full time Snaresbrook 1 Runwell Sports 1 (Runwell Sports won 9-8 on penalties)
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