Scots Grey lift The FA Sunday Cup at Anfield.
Oyster Martyrs |
3-4 |
Scots Grey |
Latham 35, Rooney 57, Lipson 120 |
a.e.t |
Bignall 16, Staples 90+2, Jeffries 98, 118 |
The FA Sunday Cup, sponsored by Carlsberg
The Final
2pm, Sunday 26 April 2009
Anfield, Liverpool FC
Winning club will receive £2,000 from The FA
An extra-time brace from Allan Jeffries handed Scots Grey what had appeared an unlikely victory in The Final of The FA Carlsberg Sunday Cup.
In an open game played at Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium, The Final proved incident-packed and lived up to the hype and anticipation created prior to the clash, largely due to the family connections of several members of Croxteth-based Oyster Martyrs.
Two players and the manager of Oyster are related to Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney and the media needed little encouragement to make a few comparisons before the game. It was attention, however, that only served to energise the opposition.
“All the papers, even Sky News, had all been mentioning about the Rooneys playing,” said Scots Grey boss, Steve Osborne. “We got one mention in The Mirror in a two page spread, one line saying ‘they’re playing Scots Grey from Nottingham’. We didn’t need any preparation after that.”
Scots Grey took the lead on 16 minutes when Phil Bignall did well to turn and shoot through two lunging defenders from nine yards. It sent the travelling fans wild but gave the Oyster players the jolt they required.
After having an effort cleared off the line, Oyster drew level with a 30-yard free-kick from Ian Latham that Scots would have been disappointed to concede from. With the Scots ‘keeper rooted to the spot, the left-footed strike bobbled its way through the defence and inside the left-hand upright.
The goal swung the balance and Oyster began pushing forward, looking for their second, but Scots were able to reach half-time with the score still at 1-1.
In the second half the occasion was clearly getting to a few players and some heated exchanges saw the referee produce yellow cards for both sides.
“It got a bit handbags halfway through the second half but that’s football. There’s too much pressure. For us, this is our World Cup Final,” said Osborne in explanation of the incident.
Both teams continued to press but it was that famous family name that came to the fore once more, as Graham Rooney – brother of Wayne – popped up in the 57th minute to score a close range header. A looping free-kick from the left towards Scots’ far post was headed back across the goal for Rooney to put Oyster in the driving seat, much to the delight of Wayne Rooney, who was watching from the Anfield stands.
Oyster were in the ascendancy and seemed in control of the match at 2-1, but Cup Finals are forever throwing up unlikely scenarios and when Scots Grey’s Peter Staples rose above the Oyster defence to head an equaliser in injury time, the Nottingham outfit celebrated like they had won The Cup.
Eight minutes into the enforced extra-time and it looked like Scots Grey may have justified their earlier celebrations. Bignall was brought down in the Oyster area as he raced towards The Kop, paving the way for Allan Jeffries to dispatch the resulting spot kick.
As Oyster pushed forward for an equaliser they began to leave themselves open at the back, and from a long free-kick from defence Bignall flicked the ball into the path of Jeffries, who ran clear of the Oyster defence and slotted coolly past the oncoming ‘keeper.
With only two minutes left on the clock it left little time for Oyster Martyrs to stage a comeback. Anthony Lipson managed to make it 3-4 but it wasn't enough and Scots Grey went on to lift The FA Carlsberg Sunday Cup for the first time in their history.
Attendance 2,559
