By Isle of Wight Observer
Combination One champions, West Wight Reserves, won a close Junior A Cup final on penalties, against Division Two runners-up, Oakfield, on Wednesday evening, after drawing 1-1 after 90 minutes.
West Wight Res kicked off under the Beatrice Avenue floodlights, with both sides cautious. Counter-attacking created limited chances, with West Wight’s Simon Merrett going on a mazy run from the half-way line to Oakfield penalty area, before the move broke down. This was followed by an innocuous challenge involving West Wight’s Ben Winton, who then had to be stretchered off for a knee injury.
Ref, Michael Hayward, and his assistants, Pete Cotton and Jock Rafferty, had a strong match and awarded a disputed penalty to West Wight late in the first half, with Merrett striking the ball to Oakfield’s keeper, Ben Woodford’s left. The keeper pulled off the first of a number of critical saves, as the half ended goal-less.
Team talks refreshed both sides and West Wight created a chance on the hour, with George Saunders finishing a well-worked move from short range. Oakfield responded when Nathan Roberts equalised, but delight turned to disappointment after Roberts missed the goal shortly afterwards, when he was one-on-one with West Wight keeper, Ben Gearing.
With just minutes of the match left, Oakfield’s Jack Lavell was booked for a late challenge. But keeper and player-of-the-match Woodford still had time to pull off a breath-taking goal line save. The game finished 1-1 and the penalty shoot-out followed.
The shoot-out first swung in Oakfield’s favour, with West Wight missing an early kick, but West Wight held their nerve and strikes from George Saunders, Jason Moore and Simon Merrett saw West Wight triumph and start the celebrations.
IW Football Association’s Ian Smith presented the match officials with match medals, and Oakfield keeper, Ben Woodford, with a well-earned player-of-the- match award, before presenting West Wight’s Jason Moore with the Junior A Cup to add to their top-of-table success.