Elmer FC finished their season in emphatic style with a stunning seven goal victory to win the Ken Baker Memorial Cup and complete the Division 3 Double. With leading goalscorer Nathan Sadler abroad it was feared that Elmer could struggle for goals. Martyn Hope was pushed into service as centre forward and immediately caused the LG defence problems with his direct and robust presence. After just 8 minutes Elmer were unfortunate not to go ahead when an Alex Peach corner was firmly headed goalwards by James Ford only to see it hit a Utd defender on the line and bounce away to safety. Encouraged by this fortunate escape LG now took a firm hold on proceedings for the next 10 minutes or so and thought they had gone ahead when Luke Lawrence ran onto to a through ball and lifted his shot over the advancing Steve Nanson and into the Elmer net. However, their wild celebrations were cut short when the referee’s attention was drawn to his assistant flagging for an offside player. The deadlock though was broken in the 23rd minute when Matt Hope got to a pass from Tom Bann to crash the ball past Alex Brennan to put the Division 3 Champions ahead. Just one minute later and that lead was doubled. James Ford went on a dazzling run down the right and as he cut in towards the penalty area was unceremoniously hauled to the floor to gain a direct free kick. Elmer’s skipper Peach deliberately placed the ball and with his left foot curled a fine effort into the far top corner. With their two goal lead Elmer now really settled into their stride and on 38 minutes Jamie Hambidge whipped a fine cross into the box to be met by a powerful header from Ford to make the half-time score 3-0.
The second half began with Elmer continuing to dominate, they wrapped up proceedings on the hour when Matt Hope scored twice in a minute to complete his hat-trick. Jack Davis came on to replace Martyn Hope, and within moments it looked as if he was to repeat his supersub antics when he rose to head the ball goalwards only to see his effort go slightly wide. Then injuries to both Alex Peach and Matt Hope saw them be replaced by Enoch Kwoffe and Craig Gardner respectively. Kwoffe in particular causing the tiring LG defence many a problem with his blistering pace. With 15 minutes remaining it was Ronnie Lewry who took control of the match and helped himself to a brace of goals to make the score 7-0. A scoreline that accurately reflected Elmer’s overall dominance of the match.
