ANDY PIERCY
Valley Green 5 Forest Glade 1
The stands were full at Billericay Town as what has been dubbed the Family Final got under way with both teams parading a good number of “mascots” before the large crowd of supporters which included many generations.
The game started at a furious pace with both sides trying to get the upper hand and the game was only five minutes old when Robbie Williams found a header that hit the back of the net to put Forest Glade one up. With both sets of fans, who were brilliant all afternoon, cheering their sides on a scramble in the Forest Glade penalty area gave Valley Greens Stuart Kennedy an opening which he duly tucked away to bring the sides level. Frenetic play ensued with both teams eager to get the upper hand and when the ball fell to Mike Bryant some way out the Valley Green skipper could not see a team mate unmarked so he unleashed a long shot that whistled past Stephen Bott in the Forest Glade goal to give Valley Green a 2-1 lead. It was not long afterwards that another break by Valley Green ended with an error in the Forest Glade area which allowed Ian Robinson to nip in and put his side 3-1 to the good. The second half proved a very tight affair with Forest Glade doing a great deal of pressing but finding Darren Budd, the Valley Green goalkeeper, in fine form and his defence holding firm. With thirty minutes gone a good through ball found Robert Cork streaking away, rounding the goalkeeper and slotting home to give Valley Green a 4-1 lead. Ten minutes later from a very similar situation he repeated the feat with the same result and Valley Green ran out winners by the scoreline of 5-1. This is somewhat a remarkable feat by Valley Green who had not won a league game up to that point.
With rousing cheers from both sets of fans the medals and trophy were presented by league representative Geoff Harwood.
Squads :
Valley Green
Darren Budd, John Bryan, Gary Cowley, Steve Little, Ian Robinson, Jay Gibson, Mike Bryant, Ian Long, Robert Cork, Dave Markham, Scott Wiseman, Stuart Ponder, Terry Vanstone, Stuart Kennedy, Jim Davy, Keiran Tame.
Forest Glade
Stephen Bott, Danny Rick, Iain O’Neill, Stuart Daltrey, Stuart William, Steve Carter, Paul Faulkner, Robbie Williams, Andrew Patterson, Alan Jelley, Andy Long, Rob Watts, Hugo Reis, Ryan Green, Daniel, Micallef, Alan Stanlick.
Referee: JohnFarrant Assistants: Mark Rose and Warren Campbell 4th Official: Martin Berry