The
Senior Cup has always eluded the Shirley Athletic trophy cabinet, and nearly
did for another year after a strong late surge by Division Six leaders King
Edward Lions.
Shirley started comfortably and were in front thanks to a nice turn and finish
by Simon Jamieson in 5 minutes. King Edwards resorted to the long ball over
the top to their 2 pacey forwards, but rarely threatened. Shirley doubled
their lead when skipper Barry Morley finished nicely from 20 yards on 12 minutes.
Shirley continued to control proceedings, and threatened to extend their lead
further but failed to do so. A blatant penalty was given to Ben Ince, who
just about slotted away on 40 mins to give Shirley a 3-0 half time lead.
The second half showed King Edwards's determination to get back into the game,
and with Shirley's defensive indecisiveness, it gave them optimism as they
penned Shirley in for a good 10 minutes. Shirley eased their own pressure
and started to find an outlet through Man of the Match Mike Mountford. Barry
Morley and Liam Looney made way for Ryan Long and Matty Shaw. A period of
pressure resulted in a 25 yard shot from Ben Ince deflecting off Kerry Curtis's
arse and finding the net to enable Shirley to be 4-0 to the good.
You'd have thought the game was now safe....wouldn't you!!!
Shirley gave away a free kick approx 40 yards out, and the kick made contact
with no-one, except the back of Shirley's net on 80mins. Ryan Long gets booked
3 minutes later. A lapse in man-marking results in a King Edwards midfielder
being 1-on-1 with Darren Brown, with the midfielder finishing nicely on 85
mins. King Edwards start to throw everything forward. Their centre-half pushed
up and was not followed....guess who scored - yep, he did. Now, King Edwards
sensed a potential comeback / upset, but it wasn't to be....thankfully.
Shirley are away to Sutton Utd on Sat 20th Oct in the 1st round of the Saturday
Vase.
