Official Cup

The Banking
Spectators: 175 (Terracing: 132, Seating: 40, VIP seats: 3) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Brynn Frost got the match started through his kick off. Paulinho de Sena received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 3rd minute. Laurence Mulford tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 8th minute Philip Nevin shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Esad Vidić saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 10th minute, Birstall Bombers's Brynn Frost dribbled the ball into the box and hit a shot with the outside of his foot, sending the keeper the wrong way. 2-0. 16 minutes into the game, Matthew Flintoff was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Arrows Academy FC's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Birstall Bombers the free kick. A collision led to Arrows Academy FC getting a freekick after 16 minutes play. Matthew Flintoff hit a great ball. After a defensive mix-up in Arrows Academy FC's zone, Keith Trotter stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Laurence Mulford came out of the goal and Keith Trotter tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. When Brynn Frost fell near the penalty area in the 21st minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Birstall Bombers's protests and gave Brynn Frost a yellow card for diving instead. An unexpectedly hard shot by Philip Nevin in the 22nd minute of play forced Birstall Bombers's goalkeeper Esad Vidić to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 23rd match minute, Arrows Academy FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Danny Parks to maneuver through the defense. After having played for 24 minutes, Paulinho de Sena managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Birstall Bombers's supporters crossed their fingers, but Paulinho de Sena was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. In the 27th minute, Philip Nevin ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Esad Vidić was frozen by the shot and now it was 2-1. After 33 minutes of play, Arrows Academy FC's Nicholas Sercombe made it 2-2 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Esad Vidić was left in no man's land by his defense there! Brynn Frost hit a great freekick 38 minutes into the match. After some fancy dribbling in the 39th minute, Wes Bray managed to get in a good position for a shot. Arrows Academy FC's supporters rose to their feet, but Wes Bray was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Esad Vidić breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. After 45 minutes, Verne Young mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Arrows Academy FC and the Birstall Bombers players grew even worse after the yellow card. 44 minutes into the game, one of Arrows Academy FC:s players got tackled near the goal, and the referee blew for a penalty. Laurence Mulford went to the wrong direction when Keith Trotter was taking care of the penalty kick which however missed the goal. After a very even first half the match was still tied. The players went to their respective dressing rooms to discuss the tactics for the second half.

In the 51st match minute, Birstall Bombers was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Devon Dunning to maneuver through the defense. After 53 played minutes, Arrows Academy FC's Matthew Flintoff shot from a long distance, and at first it looked like the ball was going into the goal, but the goalkeeper Esad Vidić came through and got his fingers on the ball before it flew over the goal line. He then quickly gripped the ball tighter before the forwards in Arrows Academy FC reached it. An unexpectedly hard shot by Brynn Frost in the 54th minute of play forced Arrows Academy FC's goalkeeper Laurence Mulford to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Brynn Frost hit a great freekick 58 minutes into the match. In the 60th minute, Rufus Morgan hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. 62 minutes into the match, Birstall Bombers's goalkeeper Esad Vidić had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Danny Parks. In the 65th minute, Philip Nevin left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Arrows Academy FC fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 2-3. If Philip Nevin had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 67th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 69th minute of the match, Ron Westerby got a very nice opportunity to score, but Esad Vidić was well-placed and pushed the ball away from the goal at the left post. Wes Bray fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 71st minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Esad Vidić having to interfere. In the 72nd minute, Sam Clifford got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. An unexpectedly hard shot by Wes Bray in the 83rd minute of play forced Birstall Bombers's goalkeeper Esad Vidić to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Esad Vidić stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Ron Westerby's shot from short distance in the 87th minute. Sam Clifford's late challenge caught a Arrows Academy FC's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Sam Clifford helped the player get up and apologised. Sam Clifford hit a great freekick 88 minutes into the match. Esad Vidić took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Wes Bray, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Esad Vidić showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Wes Bray in the 97th minute of the match. Arrows Academy FC's fans were overjoyed with their teams well-earned victory and stayed in the stadium long after the final whistle to celebrate the win.