Sungate 2 Woodford East 0

BBC Essex Saturday Premier Cup Final, Wednesday April 13th

Wednesday evening saw me over at New Lodge for the first Premier Cup final since 2018/19, and it saw Essex Olympian Premier side Sungate lift the trophy after seeing off Essex Alliance Senior outfit Woodford East in front of 448 in Billericay.

It had been 1,437 days since Buckhurst Hill had won the last competition played, but their long reign of the Premier Cup would finally come to an end here as Sungate and Woodford East did battle to try and get their names on what is a very prestigious competition for the top Junior sides in Essex.

Sungate sit in mid table of the Olympian Premier division having had a mixed campaign league wise, eleven wins, one draw and seven losses, although they did come into this one off the back of a 6-0 victory over Springfield, so that was certainly a good way to warm up for this big final, although they were only in the final thanks to an administrative error from fellow Olympian Premier side Catholic United who did beat Sungate 2-1 in the semi final, only to be then thrown out, meaning Sungate took their spot in the final instead.

Woodford East themselves were having a very good first season at Step Seven level in the Alliance Senior division, a league that had been awarded that status for the first time this season, and they had lost just the one game so far and were still well in title hunt after big wins over Lymore Gardens and fellow title challengers Chadwell Heath Spartans in the last week, so could they put in one more big performance in what had been a huge week to get their names on the cup.

East had seen off Middlesex County Premier leaders Clapton CFC in the semi finals, and if you would like to see a review of the four semi finalists path to the last four then check out my blog here to get an idea of the finalists road to New Lodge http://pedroslocalfootiefix.blogspot.com/2022/02/bbc-essex-saturday-premier-cup-20212022.html

Anyway back to the final, and a superb crowd of 448 turned up to cheer on their sides, friends, etc etc, and East probably had the bigger backing and certainly the more vocal for sure, and they probably should have been celebrating early on when Will Letchford had a great chance from close range but saw Gate keeper Stefan Lemacq make a decent stop, but after that early chance it was Gate who had the better openings for the remainder of the period.

They saw an effort bounce back off the bar but then had a golden chance to take the lead just past the half hour mark when Lee Samways was fouled inside the box and a penalty was awarded, however James Smith, who had annoyed East after a rather over zealous challenge earlier in the half, sent his penalty wide of the post, bringing cheers from that large East contingent behind the dugouts.

Smith was to have an inspired game though despite those two moments in the first period, he was involved in all of Gate's attacking play and seemed to be popping up all over the pitch, although after an hour his side were still locked at 0-0 despite having the better of the contest, and they could easily had fallen behind too after the break when East saw Connor Brathwaite in the clear but lob over the bar when it looked like it would find the net. That was to be the only chance East would create of note for the rest of the game though.

On 63 minutes came the breakthrough, and it went to Sungate, as Smith was unsurprisingly involved again, picking the ball up and passing to Samways, and he then laid in strike partner George Johnson who curled a delightful effort beyond Alfie Watts into the top corner of the net, and it cued large celebrations from the Olympian side, maybe it was relief mixed with joy as they may have felt it wasn't going to be their day, especially after the penalty miss.

Smith made way as Sungate made some changes, and two of the substitutes combined to seal the contest with seven minutes remaining as after Thomas Drayton had seen an effort blocked, Arif Mustapha, who had been heavily involved after coming on, picked up the loose ball and fired a left footed effort into the net, and hand Sungate a deserved win and Premier Cup glory for 2021/22.

So the Olympian dominance continues in the competition, East just never really got their game going in this contest, and maybe in the second period the two tough games they had building up to this final caught up with them as I feel tiredness maybe crept into the performance somewhat, but whatever happens this season East should be more than proud of what they have achieved and they still have things to play for this season, so once they are over this disappointment they can turn their attentions to those.

Congratulations to Sungate though who were the better team on the night and deserved their win, and they can enjoy some silverware for this campaign and now have nine games of the league season left to see how high they can finish in the table so will be looking for a strong finish to confirm a top six position at least, this performance this evening will certainly give them the confidence to do that.

Full time Sungate 2 Woodford East 0