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0-3 8th May 2008 at 6:15 PM

Comberton United Res : Bambridge Cup Final match

As our last game, this was a fitting end to the season. The team have performed extraordinarily well this year and have, at times, played some sublime football. They have grown in stature and have proved themselves to be as good as – or better – than a number of teams playing in much higher Divisions.
There have been the usual downsides to the season. We have again witnessed touchlines populated with individuals who badly need anger management help. We have seen 'players' on the pitch who have not the first idea about football but just use the sport as a vehicle to vent their frustrations every Saturday – and cause many injuries in the process.
We have seen good referees and bad referees, but our thanks goes out to all of them as it is definitely one of the worst jobs in the world.
We have also witnessed the petty politics of football – a side to the game that is deeply unsavoury and is possibly at the root of why we, as a nation, can't produce a national team that is up to the sort of standard that is expected.
We have also had several players illegally approached from other teams and even offered 'opportunities' from professional teams on the continent.
The governing body have also been up to their usual antics. There has been a great amount of PR splattered all across the national media regarding the input of £200 million into grassroots football. Only days later local clubs were told that fees and the costs of officials would be rising dramatically next season i.e. given in one hand, taken in the other.
And who will be the recipients of this funding? Will it be a small village in Cambridgeshire that has bugger all in the way of facilities or some inner city area that is already bursting with sports facilities, 'youth initiatives', drug counsellors, CCTV and nobody who gives a damn?
So this game evolved as predicted with some or all of the above problems occurring before, during and after the match.
The first half was fairly even with Shelford playing 4-1-4-1 with Chris Pyke (standing in for the injured Kevin Walters) in the holding role and Pete Manners up front. Joe and Tino battled well in the midfield and Will Keen was giving the left back a difficult time.
The breakthrough came just before half time when a low ball was driven across the face of the Shelford goal. Ashley Walters tried to deal with the ball but unfortunately deflected the ball into the back of the net. 1-0 to Comberton.
At half time we reverted to 4-4-2 with Russ Konradt (who was suffering from a slight groin strain after the semi-final) coming off and Marc Ellwood replacing him. Joe was sent up into attack to play alongside Pete.
With only a couple minutes of the 2nd half beginning, Will Keen dived into a tackle and the whistle was blown for a foul. The referee called Will over and everyone expected him to give him a yellow card. Much to the surprise of everybody on and off the pitch, he was given a straight red card.
The team was reorganised to play in a 4-4-1 formation with Joe playing wide on the right. The team then really dug in and battled well, putting in an extraordinary amount of work in the very warm conditions.
Marc Ellwood came very close to levelling the scores during this period with a volley that only narrowly went wide of the post.
Comberton scored their second in the 67th minute when a low cross from the left was turned in just inside the post. 2-0 to Comberton.
In the 70th minute the Shelford team was changed again with Andy Smith and Matt King coming on to replace Ashley Walters and Chris Loveridge. The formation was then 3-4-2 with Andy, Will Kentish and Johnny Munden in defence and Matt King going up front with Pete Manners.
This seemed to work reasonably well and the defence coped with anything that the Comberton side could throw at them. However a few minutes after the substitutions were made, Johnny Munden was involved in a collision with Tom Kelk and a Comberton player that resulted in him getting whacked the face. He received a lot of treatment whilst he was prone on the pitch but declared himself fit enough to carry on – even though he was obviously in some distress from the injury.
In the 80th minute the Comberton No. 9 engineered some space for himself on the edge of the Shelford penalty and fired in a low left footed shot into the bottom corner of the net. 3-0 to Comberton.
Shortly after this Johnny Munden again came off the pitch for further treatment to his injury and left the team with only 9 players on the pitch. He bravely went back on as all of our subs had been used.
Even at the end of the game Shelford were still on fairly even terms with the opposition. Just before a Shelford corner in the 90th minute, the linesman flagged for an infringement. The referee came over to speak to the linesman and then summoned Will Kentish and the Comberton 'keeper over. He then showed them both yellow cards. After the game we discovered that the linesman had flagged because there had been some pushing between the two players. The players, however, told a different story – the Comberton 'keeper had spat in Will Kentish's face.
There followed 5 minutes of injury time and then the final whistle was blown.
The Shelford players were well and truly knackered. They had given absolutely everything in terms of effort in this game and were all fantastic. The two players who didn't manage to get on the pitch were also fantastic in their support to the team. No player let the team down and everyone contributed 110%.
Johnny Munden went to hospital to have his injury checked out. Fortunately it wasn't a fracture and he will be OK.
The players then got changed – only cold showers were on offer – and went into the bar. There then followed a surreal series of events with a Foxton official trying to entice Ben Thompson to play for them next season and phone numbers being exchanged regarding 'opportunities' abroad.
I'm not entirely sure what is going to happen next season. Many players will be off to college and will be unavailable. There is a crop of players from the younger age group coming through and there is also interest from a number of other players who wish to join the team. If we can keep the core of this team together, they will definitely continue to improve. Whether they will be playing together in the A team or the reserves is another matter...