Mendip Broadwalk 4 Wrington Redhill 2

This game saw the curtains come down on another Covid-19 interrupted season. This was the last game of the group stage of the Somerset County League’s Senior Cup Competition which replaced the curtailed regular league season due to the pandemic. Despite not clinching victory in any of the group games, nonetheless it was certainly a beneficial competition for the continued development of Leigh White’s emerging young team. The players introduction to Senior football has been invaluable experience and expectations are high for next season.

The Senior League officials should be congratulated on introducing this competition as lockdown eased and supported by most Clubs in the league. It was disappointing that a few of those Club’s chose not to participate and some pulled out without completing the group stage fixtures. Wrington Redhill was fully committed and enjoyed the opportunities to compete against Premier League opposition in their group. There were several extremely competitive matches and the young side for most part more than held their own for long periods and a few of the defeats were hard to take.

This final game was in Bristol against a strong Mendip Broadwalk team that ended up group winners. The hosts took the lead on 10 minutes when failure to clear the ball from a crowded penalty box resulted in Ryan Nicholls hooking the ball into the net. The lead was short lived when George Fake’s strike was pushed away for a corner. From the resultant delivery Dan Ferguson popped up and squeezed the ball past keeper Oliver Sharp.

At the back Leigh White was again solid as ever and Chris Bradley alongside him was also in the action when Mendip foraged forward. Ethan Johnson and Rory Thomas were linking well on the left flank looking to feed Fake and Reece Ferguson-Obamwonyi, who put panic in the home side whenever he had the ball, as much as possible.

Without doubt James Williams was the busiest of the two keepers although he was unable to prevent two more goals in the first half. Goals came from Westley Hawkins with a fierce drive and from a free kick partially cleared Dylan Whittle was first to react and slotted the ball past Williams for a 3-1 lead. Just before the interval a great run by Ferguson-Obamwonyi again had the hosts on the back foot and his pass to Fake who shot at goal was mopped up by Sharp to avert the danger.

With Rory Thomas struggling with an injury, he was replaced for the second half by Ryan Pugh, himself returning to action following injury. He was soon in action and a pinpoint free kick taken by Sam Parkinson allowed Pugh to head the ball past Sharp deservedly reducing the deficit. Soon after Williams pulled off a super save to thwart Hawkins another goal although he did complete a brace when striking home a cross into the penalty areasoon after.

The nearest Wrington Redhill came to scoring again was when Ferguson-Obamwonyiunleashed a strong drive heading into the top left corner although Sharp excelled in palming away to safety. So, the game ended in a 4-2 defeat as the referee blew the final whistle.

 

Team

Goalkeeper: James Williams

Defence: Callum Briggs, Leigh White, Chris Bradley, Ethan Johnson

Midfield: Matt Walsh, Sam Parkinson, Dan Ferguson, Rory Thomas

Strikers: George Fake, Ferguson-Obamwonyi

Subs. Mark Brown, Ryan Pugh