Final match report

Oyster Martyrs 4 v Barnes Albion 3

The 49^th FA Sunday Cup final saw Liverpudlian giants Oyster Martyrs in their third final taking on relative newcomers Barnes Albion from the West Middlesex league. Barnes have enjoyed huge success in their domestic competitions over the last five seasons or so and have done tremendously well to reach the final of the Sunday cup in only their second season of entry. Their opponents, however, know the competition inside out, having reached the semi-final stage (or better) in four of the last five seasons.

The meet and greet: Barnes Albion in the red and white line up to face Oyster in the dark blue

I was hoping to add more photos but due to technical problems, I can't, so we'll have to make do with line up.

The first chance of the game came in the 10^th minute when Barnes skipper, Tom Martin, headed a cross over the bar. A minute later, Oyster had their first opportunity to score, but hot shot Leighton McGivern’s shot was well saved at the near post by Richard Priest.

The aerial threat of Barnes Albion was on display again just two minutes later, when another header only just failed to hit the target.

 

A horrendous sliced clearance from Dayo Olufemi fell straight to Leighton McGivern, the one man in the Oyster team that you do not want to gift this kind of chance too! McGivern bore down on goal and rifled home from inside in the penalty area, to give his side the lead on the 20^th minute.
 

Six minutes later, a sloppy clearance from Oyster keeper Jack Mano fell straight to Barnes’ Mark Gallagher, who found himself in a great goal scoring position. However, a superbly timed tackle from Danny McDonaghue, denied Gallagher a shot on goal. There really was no margin for error, as any mistake from McDonaghue would surely have resulted in his dismissal and a penalty for Barnes.

Dayo Olufemi very nearly atoned for his earlier error, when his strike at goal agonisingly crept passed the outside of the far post.
Barnes were finally rewarded for their persistence, when in the 38^th minute, they were awarded a penalty for hand ball. Up stepped Barnes veteran Adam Willis, a man with 120 goals in his 300+ appearances for the side. His assured finish in to the bottom right corner, deservedly levelled the score at 1-1.

For all of Barnes hard work, they actually went in to the half time interval behind, as Leighton McGivern scored in the 45^th minute, to restore Oyster’s advantage.

There was still time for more first half drama though, as Adam Willis came close to scoring again, when his goal bound shot was saved by the legs of Jack Mano!

It was a fired up Barnes Albion who took the field for the second half and within eight minutes of the restart, they turned a 2-1 deficit in to a 3-2 lead!

Once again, Barnes showed how dangerous they are at dead ball situations, when they restored parity through a thumping header from Mark Gallagher in the 49^th minute.

Adam Willis’ elder brother Luke (one of three Willis brothers in the Barnes starting line-up) was the next to profit from a Barnes corner, when he scored from close range to give the West Middlesex league side the lead for the first time.

It was clear to see that if Oyster were to turn the game around and claim the Sunday Cup for a second time, then some of their players had to step up and support McGivern. Dean Astbury’s surging runs from midfield had caught my eye in the semi-final but he had a very quiet first half. This began to change and it was his run from the half way line that lead to Oyster’s equaliser, when his shot was turned past Richard Priest by one of his defenders!

Six minutes later, Dean Astbury’s through ball fed McGivern, who skipped past two Barnes defenders before firing passed Richard Priest to score the best goal of the game and to complete his hat-trick. This goal also secured the Sunday Cup for Oyster, in what was a great advert for Sunday football.

There is no shame in losing to a side like Oyster and Barnes Albion can hold their heads up high. For me, they were the better side but Oyster had the best player on the pitch in Leighton McGivern and once again, his ability and prolific goal scoring was the difference between his side and the opposition.

It’s a shame that such a great game was watched in front of a fairly dismal crowd of just 392 (I’ve seen better attended games in the first round, over the years!). I believe that the final should be played at a neutral venue, as it is fairer to both sides. However, I’m very disappointed to see such a poor turnout (I suspect that this was the lowest ever crowd for the final).

So why was the attendance so low? Well, firstly, Burton is hardly an FA Sunday Cup hot spot, so I can’t imagine too many locals turned out! And, with all due respect, the Pirelli stadium can hardly be mentioned in the same breath as Anfield, Villa Park or the Stadium of Light, which for me, were all fitting venues for the final, so I think the choice of venue was a key factor. From what I understand, Barnes did not want to play at Tranmere because they saw that as giving Oyster an unfair advantage, while Oyster (despite having strong links with Everton, wanted the game to be played at Anfield!).