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!).

Oyster Martyrs 4 Barnes Albion 3

Congrats to Oyster Martyrs who lifted the F A Sunday Cup for the second time today at Burton Albion's ground.

Full match report with photos to appear on this blog next Sunday.

Previews and reports

I've decided not to write any more previews for games being played in the latter stages of the competition, as I've noticed that information from my blog has started to appear in a couple of newspaper websites and I don't see why some lazy journalist should take the credit for my work!

One newspaper in particular have sadly taken this a step further and have blatantly ripped off my semi final match report! The report appeared on their website six days after I published it on my blog and the journalist concerned hasn't even bothered to hide the fact, as he has practically copied it word-for-word!! I've sent a letter of complaint to them but I don't expect much of a reply (if any!).

Naturally I am very annoyed at this happening. It's hard enough to find the time to update the blog, while holding down a full time job and being a father to three young children (my spare time is practically non existent). In an effort to combat this problem, I have decided that all match reports from games that I attend will, from now on, appear on the blog at least one week after the game has been played, which should be after newspapers concerned have covered that match, so their bone idle employees can come up with their own interesting facts and stop stealing mine!

Final now to be played at Burton Albion

The FA have announced that the Sunday Cup final will now be played at Burton Albion's ground, following a review of their original decision to stage the final at Tranmere Rovers.

Apparently, both Oyster Martyrs and Barnes Albion have informed the FA that they did not want the final to be played at Tranmere.

The game will still be played in 21st April, with a 2.00pm kick off.

It's Tranmere again!

The FA have this week announced that the final will be played at Tranmere Rovers on 21st April, with a 2.00pm kick off.

An article on the FA website states that it is the second time that Prenton Park has hosted the final. However, it will actually be the fifth time the final has been played there! The first final there was in 1981 when Fantail beat Mackintosh from Norwich.

The 1985 final was another Merseyside v Norfolk clash, as Avenue from Birkenhead played Hobbies from Dereham. This tie went to three games, with the first replay at Tranmere.

Avenue played two Sunday Cup games at Tranmere in 1986, as they beat Fantail Autex in a semi-final replay and Glenn Sports from Watford in the final.

I must admit that I was surprised to learn that this season's final will once again be played in the North West. Ten of the last eleven finals have been played there - eight consecutive at Anfield, two at Tranmere, whilst last season's final was played in Sunderland.

I went to the 2011 final, which was an all Liverpool Sunday league affair, between Oyster Martyrs and Paddock, so it made sense for it to be played at Tranmere. However, I think a change should have been made for this season. Don't get me wrong, Prenton Park is an impressive ground but I would have preferred a neutral venue somewhere in the midlands, as that seems fairer to both sides.

Barnes Albion 4 v Upshire 3

Congratulations to Barnes Albion who managed to edge past Upshire in this afternoon's semi-final at Staines Town. Extra time was required to decide the winner, with both teams locked at 2-2 after 90 minutes.

Barnes will now contest the final against Oyster Martyrs, which has a provisional date of 21st April at a venue to be decided.

Many thanks to Spencer Cox for confirming this result.

HT Sports 2 Oyster Martyrs 3

This was a cracker of a game, packed with quality goals, good football, a sending off and a missed penalty! 
 
Oyster were the better team in the first half and had several chances to open the scoring, which they failed to take. At the forefront of the Oyster attack was Leighton McGivern and some of his play was, at times, mesmeric, as the HT defence struggled to contain him - one delightful back heel set up Thomas Rooney and his goal bound shot was well saved by the HT keeper.

Local side HT Sports opened the scoring against the run of play on the 31st minute when Chris Howarth rounded the advancing keeper to give them the lead. This lasted all of three minutes, when McGivern jinked his way through the HT defence, in almost Greaves-esq fashion to regain parity for Oyster.

The same player then gave his side the half time lead, when a free kick was awarded when HT's Wayne Hudson handled the ball outside of the penalty area. Up stepped McGivern, whose thunderbolt of a free kick in to the top left corner of the goal gave the HT keeper no chance. HT 1-2

It was 3-1 to Oyster just three minutes after the restart, when Dean Astbury's superb strike flew in. The next incident in this compelling game was a potential game changer, as Oyster keeper Jack Mano was sent off, when he was shown a second yellow card for his blatant trip on HT's Steve Palfrey. Well travelled centre half Lee Connor successfully converted two spot kick's for HT on Thursday evening, when they lost in the semi-final of the Leeds & District FA cup on penalties. However, his penalty was superbly tipped on to the bar by sub goalie, Gary Smith, to deny the Leeds side a way back in to the game.

Sam Hewitt did give HT some hope in the 74th minute, when he reduced the arrears to one goal but despite their best efforts, it was 10 man Oyster who did enough to reach their third Sunday Cup final.

After travelling up to the North East twice this year and down to Hucknall in previous rounds, I was delighted to be able to watch a game that was only being played 15 minutes drive away from my house! However, in my excitement to get there, I forgot to bring my camera with me, so unfortunately, I am unable to publish any photos to go with this report.

HT Sports v Oyster Martyrs

Oyster Martyrs will become only the second Merseyside team to reach three finals (Birkenhead side Avenue played in three successive finals in the mid 1980’s) if they can beat HT Sports at Guiseley this afternoon.

HT are having a wonderful debut season in the competition but their bid to reach the final will be severely tested by favourites, Oyster, who are playing their fourth semi-final in five seasons.

Oyster will have fond memories of playing at Nethermoor Park, which was the venue for their first semi-final appearance in 2009, where they overcame HT’s Leeds Combination league rivals, Fforde Grene in a game spoilt by strong winds.

HT entered the Sunday Cup on the back of a very successful 2011/12 season, which saw them crowned league champions for the sixth time, complete a league and cup double, by winning the Sandford cup for the fifth consecutive year and they also lifted the Leeds and District FA Sunday Senior Cup. They have reached the semi -final the hard way, with four of their five victories being away from home. In fact, the semi-final will be the first time that HT have actually played a Sunday Cup game in Leeds, as they elected to play their home games at Brighouse Town.

Despite retaining the Liverpool County FA Premier Cup, Oyster had a relatively disappointing 2011/12 season, given their usual high standards. They finished fourth in the Liverpool Sunday league, Premier Division (they were 15 points adrift of champions Canada) and lost both their Sunday Cup quarter final (in a bad tempered game against Tripimeni) and when reinstated, lost a hard fought semi-final against Hetton Lyons.

I think today will be a close game but I have to make Oyster the favourites to make the final, although I wouldn’t write off HT’s chances altogether.

Semi Final Postponement

Tomorrow's semi final between Barnes Albion and Upshire has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch at Staines Town. The game has been rearranged for next Sunday.

The HT Sports v Oyster Martyrs game is still scheduled to go ahead at Guiseley tomorrow.

Sunday 24th Feb

A great result for Barnes Albion, as they have beaten defending champions Hetton Lyons by two goals to one.

Many thanks to Spencer Cox who went to the above game for confirming the result, at the final whistle.

I did hope to update the blog before 1.35am but I have only just returned from Wembley, where a rampant Swansea City handed my team Bradford City the mother of all footballing lessons!