CUP ROUND-UP: Woodcote crash out after late Finchampstead comeback

WOODCOTE bowed out of the Berkshire Trophy Centre Senior Cup after a below par performance against a young FINCHAMPSTEAD side last Saturday.

The home side held a 2-0 lead and were denied a third when an Alec Curtis header was ruled out by the referee.

Finchampstead made a good start to the game, but Woodcote looked the more dangerous near goal. An early Toby Nowell header rebounded off the crossbar before Sam Primmer made it 1-0 after 20 minutes with a header from Mark Spruyt’s corner.

Both sides had chances to score thwarted by the keepers, with Ben Lallament making a particularly good save in a one-on-one situation.

With five minutes to go before the break, Woodcote made it 2-0 with a Toby Nowell header from Henry Leadbetter-Hart’s cross. Before the break Nowell was unlucky to see his shot rebound off the crossbar.

Into the second half and it took an Alec Curtis clearance off the line on 50 minutes to preserve Woodcote’s lead and, before the hour mark, the same player headed wide from a corner and then found the net only to have the goal disallowed.

On the hour mark Finchampstead narrowed the gap from the penalty spot after a clumsy challenge from Tommy Brownlow and as the game reached its final stages the same player was unlucky to concede an own goal as the ball from a free kick glanced off his head into the net.

As both managers were composing their list of penalty takers for the deciding shoot-out a goalmouth scramble in the Woodcote box saw Finchampstead force the ball into the net with just one minute of the match remaining. HENLEY TOWN DEVELOPMENT cruised into the next round of the Intermediate Cup after thrashing CHARVIL 7-1.

The visitors opened the scoring when Jacob Tait Toussaint rose to head home a free kick. Henley doubled their lead soon after as Hamish Thomson reacted quickest to a corner, volleying the ball into the ground and over the goalkeeper.

The third goal saw Luke Adams open his account for Henley in style as he cut inside on to his left foot and struck from distance to find the bottom corner. Henley continued to press and were rewarded again when Adam Palmer was played through, calmly rounding the goalkeeper before tapping into an empty net to make it 4-0 at half-time.

Henley showed no signs of easing off after the interval. Adams was brought down in the box, and Munashe Nenguke stepped up to dispatch the resulting penalty.

The sixth goal came from a moment of quality as a delivery from the left wing was met by Lucas Shaffner, who hit a volley on the outside of his foot volley to beat the keeper. Nenguke capped off a standout performance with a spectacular seventh, dropping his shoulder and bending a long-range effort into the top corner. Charvil grabbed a late consolation goal.

In the Junior Cup, ROTHERFIELD UNITED DEVELOPMENT progressed to the next round of the competition after running out 3-2 winners at ALLIED COMMUNITY ELITE RESERVES. Lanny Robb, Charlie Rolstone and Jack Morgan were the scorers for the visitors.