Thursday 3rd April
Aldershot & District Football League – Division 3 Cup Final
White Swan FC 2 v 1 Farnham United FC
After a nervous start Farnham struggled to break down White Swan’s defence even though they dominated for much of the first scrappy half the only real highlight was when after good pressure from Farnham the White Swan keeper appeared to scoop the ball out of the net, with no movement from the linesman the referee played on ignoring the protests of the Farnham attackers. The half time interval saw the scores level at 0-0.
Farnham after some reorganising were confident and looked on course to lift the cup, unfortunately White Swan didn’t have the same song sheet and after good pressure in the Farnham box a goal scramble saw the ball take a wicked deflection off centre back Mark Young’s head into the goal. This spurred White Swan on and a short time later their striker after using his pace to split the Farnham defence found himself with goal keeper Asa Warner to beat, he took his shot and unfortunately Warner could get nothing on the ball. Now trailing by 2 goals Farnham made a double substitution which saw Chris Evans come on up front, whilst Liam Gardner came into the centre midfield role. Immediately this changed the dynamics of the game, Farnham applied immense pressure on White Swan who made a desperate defence. With many chances going begging and time slipping away Chris Evans scored in the 85th minute, Farnham continued the bombardment but were unable to find the net again before the final whistle.
Worthy of an extra mention were Asa Warner for several crucial saves, Ben Webb for his defensive efforts, Chris Evans for his up front efforts, Andy Williams who tried so very hard to bring the cup home, Matt Hill for his grit after he suffered a nasty cut to the face and a very special mention for all the young lads from the club who came and showed their support it was greatly appreciated.
Congratulations to White Swan who deservedly lifted the cup, coming so close has now made the Farnham boys even more determined to come back to try their luck next season.
Man of the match Ben Webb
Goal Chris Evans 85
Team A Warner, G Pritchard, Ben Webb, M Young, J Blanch, A Williams, D Pimm, W Large, M Hill, J Bennett, S Bennett, C Evans, B Broadhead, L Gardner