13th May 2007

Duke of Westminster Cup Final

Saughall Colts 2 Newton Athletic 1

Saughall finished the season in fine style with an excellent day out at the Saunders Honda Stadium. On arriving at the ground Colts enjoyed watching a close under 13 fixture before heading to the dressing room to prepare for their own final. Although a touch nervous, the whole team were looking forward to giving a good performance against this year`s league champions. When the time came to walk down the tunnel onto the pitch Colts were well up for any challenge, encouraged by the large number of family and supporters who had come to cheer them on.The game started at high tempo, but neither side had gained the upper hand when centre half Chris Humphreys went for a header with a Newton midfielder and their was a sickening clash of heads. With both players down injured the game was stopped, Chris having to leave the field suffering from concussion, and the Newton lad having sustained a serious cut to his forehead the other players were sent back to the dressing room whilst medical help was called. 

After a forty minute stoppage the game was restarted. Saughall had lost none of their determination and attacked the Newton side with renewed vigor. Mickey Smith recieved the ball on the right wing and slid a high quality ball through for striker Greg Dymond to run onto and push neatly past the Newton `keeper to give Colts the lead.  Shortly afterwards a stunning corner fron Shaun Ararthoon was met by a Greg Dymond header to again beat the Newton goalie and send Saughall into the interval with a clear lead.

The second half was played at a furious pace, with Newton throwing everything at the Saughall defence, but they stood strong, with Sam Patchitt, Sam Nicholas, Matty Green and Ashley Rogers defending bravely whilst midfielders Jake Andrews, Josh Atkin Matty Meehan and Liam McFadden working relentlessly to set up attacks on the break for strikers Jack Woodward and Callum Madden to run onto. Newton eventually broke through the Colts defence and scored, but Saughall Keeper Chris Youde put in a truly outstanding performance making a series of unbelievable saves to keep Colts in the lead. Even a late penalty did not worry him, the unfortunate Newton player hitting the ball wide of the Saughall goal. The last few minutes were extermely tense. Saughall remained under pressure but were able to withstand the threat from the league champions to take a well earned victory .

The team lined up to recieve their trophies from League Secretary Karl Williamson with the applause from he crowd ringing in their ears and Captain Mickey Smith stepped forward to recieve the trophy that they hard worked so hard for . Shaun Arathoon was named man of the match but after a performance like this every single player deserves  a similar accolade,

WELL DONE LADS!!!!!!!!!

SAUGHALL COLTS  U14`S

D.O.W. CUP WINNERS 2007!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goal Scorers:  Greg Dymond (2)

MoM: Shaun Arathoon