WG PARR TROPHY SEMI-FINALS – 20th February
Five-goal Ball, fires Beeches to Trophy Final
Beeches FC 6 Steeple Ashton FC 5
First division Beeches FC and Third division outfit Audley FC will compete for this seasons RP Clarke Sheds & Fencing sponsored WG Parr Trophy after getting the better of their respective opponents Steeple Ashton FC and Semington FC in Sunday mornings semi-final showdowns.
With their own pitch at Shaw unplayable, Beeches FC gave up home advantage and travelled to St Mary’s for what turned out to be a breath-taking contest against underdogs Steeple Ashton FC who came back from 3-0 and 5-3 down to twice draw level before suffering a 6-5 defeat to Andy Anderson’s side who were indebted to Steve Ball, whose 5-goal haul was the catalyst to them reaching the final.
3-0 up after 15 minutes, Beeches looked to be in cruise control, before Ashton turned the tie on its head in the final 10 minutes of the half. Steve Ball (Left) gave Beeches the perfect start with his first of the morning after 7 minutes. Simon Kent doubled the lead a minute later and when Ball netted his second and Beeches third on 14 minutes it looked as if it was game over.
In what can only be described as horrendous conditions, Ashton woke from early morning slumber and started an incredible fightback, a well struck free kick from David Raine was spilled by the Beeches stand-in keeper Frankie McEntegart, to reduce the deficit on 34 minutes, shortly after a fantastic strike from Aaron Burbidge harrowed the gap to the odd goal and the first half turnaround was completed in the 43rd minute when Stefan Brinzaru netted another fine strike to make it 3-apiece at the break.
Beeches who finished the first half under the cosh, almost fell behind early in the second half, with only the crossbar denying Dan Tugwell from giving Ashton the lead.
Having weathered the Ashton storm, Beeches regrouped and regained the lead on the hour mark thanks to a third of the game for Steve Ball. From 4-3 it quickly went to 5-3, and it was Ball again doing the damage, after beating a defender, he calmly stotted home what should have been the killer goal.
At this point, Beeches lost keeper McEntegart through injury. His replacement Ben Cooper wouldn’t have expected what happened next as like the first half, Steeple Ashton showed true character as they fought back to level the score at 5 each, Dan Tugwell scoring on 75 minutes and Dale Rowland netting in the 80th minute to set up a thrilling finale to a classic cup tie.
With extra-time looming, Ashton were undone for a sixth time, and it was that man Ball who struck the killer blow to Ashton’s hopes of causing a cup upset. Ball who had been outstanding for much of the contest was on hand to turn the ball home to seal an unbelievable 6-5 triumph for the Beeches who know they used their get out jail card to reach the final.
Audley live up to favourites billing
Audley FC 4 Semington FC 2
Third Division, Audley FC may well have been the lowest ranked of the four RP Clarke Sheds & Fencing sponsored WG Parr Trophy semi-finalists, but they are favourites to life the trophy, and they certainly lived up to that billing as they defeated Premier Division, Semington FC 4-2 to set up a meeting with Beeches FC.
Audley who had beaten their opponents 5-2 back in early Janaury on the way to topping Group A, had to put in another battling performance to not just to overcome the stubborn villagers but the very difficult conditions that made good football impossible to play.
Gareth Jones fired Audley ahead with what was his 49th goal of the season in all competitions; Jordan Murphy doubled Audley’s lead only for Semington to be thrown a lifeline when Ciaran Lyon put through his own net to give the visitors hope of a second half fightback.
Tom Webb’s diving header regained Audley’s two goal advantage and a 35 yard free kick from Charlie Austin made it 4-1 before Webb conceded a penalty that Ollie Gee tucked away to give Semington their second of the tie, but it was nothing more than a consolation as Audley saw the game out to reach a final in their first season under Jordan Tarrant’s guidance.