Our Men’s Over 45s were dominant in their pursuit of the elusive Over 45s Tier 1 Cup having suffered agonising semi-final losses on several previous attempts.
Off the back of their league win, where they continued their unbeaten run since January 2022, the team were in high spirits. The road to victory to the final had been one of domination with their 6 wins culminating in 38 goals scored and just 7 conceded. The semi-final was the ultimate test when they beat 3-time champions Khalsa Leamington.
A 6pm push back at wind swept Lee Valley was the stage for the final over the May Bank Holiday weekend against Clifton Robinsons. The team were prepped with precision on the day by Andy Howell (aka Goalie), Andy Alderson-Evans and Jon Heard. Gleaming in their white kit and with the OCHC crowd behind them the team started strong.
Momentum was with OCs from the start and their energy showed, controlling the midfield and winning a short corner easily with the first 5 minutes of play. It only took a few more attempts until the nerves were settled with a PC conversion from JJ after 15 minutes put OCs ahead. Whilst Clifton Robinsons barely breached the half way line, as the game progressed they slowly began to regroup and rebuild their way back into the game. Some naughty player behaviour and what a biased author might call an unjust 10 minute yellow started a flurry of yellow cards being awarded to OCs. The Technical Area bench (i.e. naughty step) looked more like the subs bench as OCs were reduced to 8 men with 5 minutes to go in the first half. Clifton Robinsons pressed OCs hard but composure alongside top direction led from the back and a magnificent short corner save by Goalie ensured the gents stayed 1-0 up into the break.
Having been read the riot act about discipline at half time and back to a full strength 11 OCs maintained their dominance of the game. No more cards followed for the whites, just goals. 4 minutes into the second half a short corner for OCs saw Grant Taylor make a strong drag flick, followed by a super save from the keeper which deflected straight back to Grant who knocked it on his reverse to Chris Brewer for a neat deflection to make it 2-0. It was Chris again who cemented the win following an interception and counter attack from Barney Hillsdon and a selfless pass from Gavin Adair.
It wasn’t all one way traffic Clifton Robinsons played a brilliant game throughout the match and were great opponents but it was clear to see that this OCs team had been playing together for some years and trusted each other to deliver.
Final Score 3-0
Final Squad: Chris Porter, Ash Garratt, Barney Hillsdon, Matt Heslop, Ed Hauck, Stu Ripley, Nick Ripley, Chris Brewer, John Jauncey, Steve Quincey, Cato Choi, Gavin Adair, Michael Sutherland, Grant Taylor, Nathan Ramsden and Andrew Howell (GK & Cpt)
More cup winning pictures can be found HERE and many thanks to Martin Williamson for his photography skills.
Finally thank you to all the support throughout the rounds and those that came up to Lee Valley. A bigger thank you to family and friends for allowing the squad the time away to train and play a lot of Sunday matches, eating into their weekends.