Fry Club Colts U16’s – Somerset Cup Final Squad

No.	Name of Player
1	Nick Frost
2	Mike Tarling
3	Liam Kavanagh
4	Tom Hamblin (Captain)
5	Curtis Jack
6	Ricky Anstey
7	Jason McCrossan
8	Ben Sinclair
9	Ian Field
10	Ricky Lewis
11	Danny Hunt
12	Jay Slade
14	Matt Green

It was an interesting experience for my team and myself. It was our second cup final and it had been another long road to get here. We were missing top scorer Dan Payne, right back Joe Cook, left back Phil Knight and midfielder Mark Webb, all players too old for the competition. Into the squad came Matt Green, who has backed up the squad admirably for the last few years. The game itself, like the league cup was exciting and at times, end to end. Unlike the league cup, Fry’s were awake from the start. An interesting contrast really, as, in the league cup we all got there early, soaked up the atmosphere, warmed up properly in training tops, lined up before the game and kicked off in the proper manner and were asleep for the first 20 minutes. For this one, we left 20 minutes late due to someone’s usual late arrival, lost four of the nine-car procession whilst still in Keynsham. Waited for 15 minutes whilst two of them found us again, and then got there at 1.55pm to be told that for the final, the kick off was 2.15 as opposed to 2.30 as had been the case in all of the previous rounds, and our secretary had failed to inform us of this. At 2.10 my ‘keeper arrived having stopped for petrol and so we had no real time for anything except to get changed and kick off. I suppose that, because of the rush to get changed, we were pumping adrenaline from the start and went for it. Brislington pressed from the start and in the first half alone we had goal line clearances from Mike Tarling, Ben Sinclair and Liam Kavanagh. Despite this, I never really felt that they were any better than us and we did create the odd chance with Danny Hunt and Ricky Lewis harrying their ‘keeper. However, Ricky did not seem his usual self and with an injury near the end of the first half, he was replaced by Jay Slade, who dragged a shot wide almost instantly. Tom Hamblin and Curtis Jack were towering in defence and after a while Brislington were reduced to long shots. Even their usual amount of crosses from the wings were reduced as both Jason McCrossan and Ricky Anstey got back with their wingers to stop them whilst launching attacks of their own. In the middle of midfield Ian Field was everywhere, never letting the Brislington players dwell on the ball for a moment. In goal, after a few nervous moments early on, Nick Frost grew in confidence and distributed the ball well. The game itself was characterised by four key moments. 10 minutes into the second half the ball was played down the Brislington wing to Tom Evans who was challenged by Liam Kavanagh. Tom Evans went down contentiously but the ref fell for it and awarded a penalty. Nick Frost guessed the right way but Liam Peart hit it with power and into the net. 1-0 Brislington. With 20 minutes to go Fry’s brought on their second sub and with ten minutes left switched from a 4-4-2 formation to a 3-4-3 in an attempt to get a goal. Just after that Ian Field wormed his way into the box and had his legs taken from under him only for the ref to wave play on, and then with two minutes to go Matt Green stormed clear into the box and shot low pass the advancing ‘keeper only for the ball to run three inches the wrong side of the upright. In the final minute a tussle between Liam Kavanagh and Tom Evans ended with Tom appearing to head butt Liam. The linesman called the ref over but after a moments conferring the ref said to calm down as the game was almost over. The game ended 1-0 to Brislington but Fry’s carried themselves with dignity and should be proud that they reached two cup finals in the same season.

Fry Colt’s Man Of The Match – Curtis Jack & Liam Kavanagh