Football ISFA Cup Final

ISFA Cup

Charterhouse 1 Hampton 1

(Hampton won 4-2 on penalties)

 

As in their two previous visits to the ISFA Cup final, Charterhouse came away disappointed. They had proved the equal of a much vaunted Hampton team in everything but penalty kicks. Sadly, equal was not good enough. But what an occasion it was! And what a fight the team put up!

Sixteen coaches transported almost the entire school to the Walkers Stadium, home of Leicester City FC, for the final. An enormous logistic operation in itself, it was made doubly difficult by the fact that the ground was deemed unfit on March 5th the original date for the final and the new date involved travelling on a Friday afternoon in the CQ. Nevertheless, all arrived safely and on time and the Charterhouse spectators, bedecked for the most part in pink tee-shirts and pink beanies and wearing commemorative scarves, gave the team rousing support from start to finish.

The game began at a frenetic pace and Charterhouse were soon in the lead with a spectacular goal from Charlie Nash after only two minutes. His shot into the bottom corner of the net subsequently won him the Chris Saunders award for the Golden Moment of the game. Charterhouse continued to press and after 18 minutes were awarded a penalty when the irrepressible Nash was upended in the box. Had they scored, the game would surely have been theirs for the taking, but sadly, with the goalkeeper diving the wrong way, the ball went the wrong way too and shaved the outside of the post.

Hampton drew heart from this and, while they were unable to make any impression up to half-time, neither were Charterhouse able to extend their advantage. It still appeared that Charterhouse would prevail, however - not least because they were clearly the fitter side - but with fifteen minutes left on the clock, a carelessly conceded free kick led to the Hampton equaliser and gave the opposition a great lift. As fatigue and cramp set in, the game dwindled into a draw and twenty minutes of extra time still could not separate the sides. And so it came to penalties. Hampton dispatched theirs with the aplomb and efficiency of a crack German unit, while Charterhouse showed rather more English fallibility and the Cup slipped from their grasp.

 

The road to the final began somewhat inauspiciously in Liverpool. We received a bye in round 1 and then for the second year running, we were drawn away to St Mary’s, Crosby. Last year we had won 10-1 and even the 1 was an own goal. Despite the exhortations of the coaches to make sure they were mentally prepared and constant reminders that school teams change year by year, the XI were sluggish in the first half and went behind just before half-time to a freak goal, Sam Cussins hooking the ball over his shoulder from the edge of the penalty box while trying to clear. The St Mary’s centre forward spared Sam’s blushes by adding the final touch to what would have been one of the more bizarre own goals on record.

We showed a great deal more steel and determination in the second half, but things would not go our way and the St Mary’s defence, backed by a goalkeeper who had just been released by Everton, stood firm. Full time approached with still no sign of a break through and it looked as though it simply wasn’t going to be our year, then, with the 80 minutes up, Anthony Beddows floated a free kick into the St. Mary’s area and the diminutive Hugo Rubinstein headed home from ten yards. We had not had time to draw a breath of relief before Sam Parsons’s deflected shot from the edge of the box gave us the winner without even going into extra time. Perhaps it would be our year after all.

Round 3 saw a home tie against Latymer Upper. Charterhouse took control early and were 2-0 up at half-time with goals from Nick Carter and Parsons. All seemed to be going according to plan until the Latymer Upper captain thundered home a free kick from some thirty yards midway through the second half and suddenly Charterhouse had a gave on their hands. They had a few narrow squeaks until Charlie Clinton completed a sweeping move down the left by driving home the third goal with little time left on the clock.

The Quarter final was another home draw against Manchester GS. The two schools had only met once before, in the same competition in 2003 when Charterhouse had sneaked home by the only goal in the match. The Lancastrians again proved doughty opponents and it was no surprise when, having weathered early Charterhouse pressure, our opponents took the lead midway through the first half. At this stage Charterhouse were struggling to find any rhythm, but they were given a great lift just before half-time when Anthony Beddows scored a scrappy equaliser following one of Charlie Clinton’s trademark long throws. In an even second half the deadlock was finally broken by Charlie Nash and ultimately Charterhouse ran out deserved victors by two goals to one.

The semi-final was a drawn out affair. First, we had to wait while Bury and Malvern fought out a postponed quarter final and then the match itself was postponed from its original date because of the state of the Bury pitch. When the match was finally played it was in pleasant sunlight on a balmy late January day. Neither side played well in the first half but Charterhouse always looked the better team and second half goals from Carter and Hugo Rubinstein sealed what was probably their most comfortable victory in the competition.