Chimaria 2 St Michaels F C 4
St Michaels arrived at the Eltham Town Academy Ground expecting another tough encounter in the semi final of the Bob Snow Cup against a team riding high in the Division above. Both teams lined up on the half way line to shake each others hands as a recognition of the “Respect” campaign. As a result the game started in a pleasant manner with both teams trying to play football on a sticky and bumpy pitch.
St Michaels were quickly into their stride though and after only 2 minutes Ronnie Mewes brought out a great save from the Chimaria keeper. Seven minutes later it was Adam Fahy who was frustrated by another fine save from the keeper. St Michaels continued to pile on the pressure and 2 minutes later Arran Amer hit the post with a fierce strike. Most of the play was in the Chimaria half, but a breakaway in the 26th minute dealt St Michaels a “sucker” blow when the Home side scored from close range to open the scoring. Chimaria started to grow in confidence and in the 38th minute a great save from Harry Graham in the St Michaels goal kept the score at
1 - 0 to Chimaria which was the score at Half Time.
St Michaels needed to start quickly which they did and in the 54th minute Adam Fahy jinked into the Chimaria penaly box and an outstretched leg brought him down for a penalty. Chimaria players crowded the referee to dispute what was a really contentious decision but the the referee stood firm and it was left to Ronnie Mewes, who calmly converted the penalty to make the score 1 – 1. Eleven minutes later the Referee seemed to even it up when he gave a penalty to Chimaria for something he alone saw. After a few minutes of arguing the Chimaria player scored to restore their lead.
This decision spurred St Michaels into action and after only a minute a good pass out of defence from Sam Meade found Adam Fahy who slipped the ball past the keeper for Arran Amer to make the score 2 – 2. With 10 minutes to go St Michaels brought on Mo Abarak for Danny Baptiste in a search for the winning goal. With just 6 minutes remaining Arran Amer was free on the left and he made no mistake to put St Michaels in front for the first time in the game. Scenes of jubilation followed with virtually every player jumping on the goalscorer.
The last 6 minutes seemed to go on forever not helped by a long delay when Jack Meade suffered a nasty gash on his knee and was unable to continue. James Mckerrell replaced Jack and his first task was to help defend a free kick in a very dangerous position. This was defended well but Chimaria were pushing for an equaliser and were accorded a corner with four extra minutes already played. The Chimaria keeper came up for the corner and when the ball was cleared was unable to get back as Sam Meade moved towards an unguarded goal. His effort was cleared but fell to Ben Baptiste who shot from outside the box to the unguarded net. As it nestled in the corner of the net the players and supporters went wild with delight.
Final Score: Chimaria 2 St Michaels F C 4.
A great result from all of the players. To reach a Cup Final in their first season is a tremendous achievement. Whilst every player did their bit for the team, special mentions go to Ronnie Mewes for his work rate and effort both up front and when tracking back and also to Ben Baptiste for another untiring performance in midfield culminating in that goal at the end. Last week Jack Meade got the Man of the Match and I said that he was the “best of a poor bunch”. This week the award goes to Jack Meade again who this time was the “best of a tremendous bunch”. Well Done St Michaels who can now focus on the League, albeit looking forward to the Cup Final against our local rivals Sevenacres Sports.
