(Atholl & Renegade do battle in the Division One Cup Final)
I was over at Dagenham & Redbridge's Victoria Road ground on Saturday 20th May for a double header of Essex Alliance League cup finals, starting with the Division One final followed by the Senior Division final.
Division One Cup Final - Atholl Vs Renegade (2pm)
First up brought together two sides who had pretty poor league campaigns yet both reached their league's cup final, both sides had only won three of their sixteen league matches and finished in the bottom three as a result, so this was a chance for both to at least finish their seasons with some silverware.
Atholl defeated Ilford Reserves in the Quarter Finals 5-4 on penalties after a 2-2 draw, whereas Renegade thrashed Old Estameians 6-2 to reach the final four of the competition, and then both finalists defeated a side in the top two of the division, Atholl humbling league runners up Something From Nothing 3-0 whilst Renegate netted a 3-2 win over league champions Newham Wanderers (Wanderers were also present at Victoria Road as they received their Division One league championship medals and Trophy at half time of this one).
It certainly showed that football is a funny old game, but how would this final go? Renegade certainly began the better but fell behind after just eight minutes when Charlie Thompson slotted past Fred Cox, but just seven minutes later Renegade had their leveller, and it was a cracker as Nigel Seidu curled home a wonderful free kick.
And just before the twenty minute mark Renegade had turned it around thanks to a decent header from Deimar Cardoso and it was looking like they would go on and net more goals as they dominated this final, and five minutes before the break they added a third although it was down to an own goal after the unfortunate Thompson, scorer of the Atholl goal of course, sliced into his own net.
And Renegade pretty much ended this contest right on half time when Cardoso added his second of the game, and you felt it was how many they would get rather then if Atholl had any chance of getting back into this final, they battled gamely but conceded a very special goal with twenty minutes to go as Seidu sent a low drive across the keeper and into the net, before Salah netted a sixth to cap a very special day for Renegade.
A special mention to Barry and Rob and everyone else at the Essex Alliance League for allowing us in to cover this and the following game, and asking me and Scott to conduct the handing out of medals to the officials, both sides and then the trophy to the winners Renegade, always a pleasure and always appreciated too.
Full time Atholl 1 Renegade 6
Senior Division Cup Final - FC Petrocub Vs Woodford East (6pm)
The second final of the day was billed as a potential entertaining clash, both sides have had reasonable seasons you could say, Moldovan's FC Petrocub finished fifth in the division and two points behind Woodford East who finished fourth, and both sides had netted the most goals in the division too, East were top scorers with 98 in 32 league games whereas Petrocub netted two fewer in the same number of contests.
Petrocub had seen off Walhamstow Reserves 5-1 in Round One before they defeated Oakside 3-0 in the Quarters, and then they saw off Frenford Development 5-2 to reach this final, for East their Round One tie saw them 5-2 winners against Lymore Gardens before they netted a 4-0 win over Dagenham United, and then they saw off Jolof Sports 1-0 in the semi finals to set up today's mouth watering clash in Dagenham.
It was very apparent that FC Petrocub had the majority of the backing in the crowd as most of the 300 plus crowd were rooting for them, and certainly produced one hell of an atmosphere that was for sure, would it inspire their side to go on and defeat Woodford East in this one?
On eleven minutes they were roaring with joy as Petrocub grabbed the lead although East would have been very disappointed with how it came about as they gave the ball away to Ion Spinu who drove at the penalty area before unleashing a powerful effort at goal which Kuzsef allowed to go through his legs and into the net, and the already noisy Petrocub contingent were now at fever pitch.
Ten minutes the before the break and it was to get even harder for East as a rapid counter ended with Gheorghe Cucos poking the ball past Kuzsef, again East's defending left a lot to be desired and they now had a mountain to climb if they were to get back into this contest.
Could East find a way back? Well, with seven minutes to go they finally found a lifeline when Lucio Uare managed to find the net from close range, Petrocub had failed to seal it with chances before this, would they now regret this as East, who simply refused to give up, were now sniffing the possibility of a comeback.
But, in the first minute of stoppage time Petrocub sealed their victory when another counter attack from the Moldovan side ended with Spinu slotting home a rebound after Gurgurov had seen his effort saved, and then deeper into stoppage time Gurgurov broke down the left, cut inside, and drilled home to add gloss onto the scoreline, 4-1 was probably harsh on East but Petrocub certainly deserved their victory today, the two meet next weekend in the Fenton Cup final at Billericay Town's New Lodge, East will no doubt want to gain some revenge for this defeat.
Full time FC Petrocub 4 Woodford East 1
A long but very enjoyable day then, and two decent finals as well, producing twelve goals in total, not a bad afternoon/evening that.....
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