The Sports are Up for the Cup!

With the new season off to a start, The Sports faced an away day to Corinthian FC where we looked to book our spot in the next round of the FA Cup.

Within the first 2-3 minutes of the match the hosts broke down the right flank and whipped the ball into the 6 yard box for the ball to be challenged by no one except Corinthian forward Charlie Clover who taps the ball home for a 1-0 lead 3 minutes in! Anyone arriving late would have been gutted as the game was off to a fast start, none other than Mark Bitmead who has impressed throughout pre-season stepped up to rifle home the equaliser from a dead ball in the 5th minute and popped up 2 minutes later, on the 7th minute to tap home his second and put the Sports 2-1 up. As the game settled down a tad, Jack Unwin said "anything Bitmead can do, so can I" because on the 31st minute he rifled the host level from a dead ball and took the sides into half time all level at 2-2!

Both teams continued to feel each other out to start the second half, Jakey Beck was bought on shortly into the second half and looked to have an influence on the game and boy did he! Proving to be a handful for even the most of experienced defenders Jake hunted the ball down forcing the host to play back to the keeper, keeping the pressure on Jake was given his reward when the keeper kicked the ball off Jake to take the Sports into the lead at 3-2 on the 57th minute. Barry's men then looked to see the game out, but with a red card dished out to a Corinthian FC player for making a challenge with his studs up the game was just about to heat up! Bedfont pushing hard to see the game out but 10 man Corinthians were not about to give up as the 10 man team piled bodies forward, a mistake from the Bedfont Goalkeeper see him left in no mans land and Shiloh Apena tucked home an easy finish to level the game in the 88th minute and all but surely take this tie to a replay! Then in the 90+ minute The Sports get a corner kick, Mark Bitmead steps up, delivers a beauty into the box, the keeper gets a slight touch on the delivery but the ball only drops to none other than Jakey Beck all alone in the box calmly smashes the ball into the Corinthian net sending Sport fans into pandemonium and snatches a last minute victory away in the FA Cup!

Man of the Match today was Jake Beck, coming off the bench and giving The Sports a much needed victory as we look to push on after a disappointing season last year Jake has stepped up in pre season, set the standard and continues to prove just why he is regarded so highly by The Sports faithful! Plays behoynd his years believe me! A special shout out to Mark Bitmead who again has shown just why Barry wanted to bring him to the Rec as he worked his socks off today just as the rest of the team did! Huge congratulations to the lads for progressing into the next round and massive thank you to Corinthian FC for hosting us, great support and all the best for the rest of the season!