Coundon Conservative

5-0

Lebeq Tavern Courage

Lee Ellison, Andy Thompson 2, Steve Johnson 2

 

The FA Carlsberg Sunday Cup
The Final
2pm, Sunday 6 May 2007
Liverpool FC, Anfield
Winning club receive £2,000

6 May 2007
VIDEO: Coundon Conservative v Lebeq Tavern Courage
Watch the action from an action packed Final as Coundon Conservative hit Lebeq for five to lift The Sunday Cup.

After Coundon Conservative’s 5-0 triumph over Lebeq Tavern Courage in The FA Carlsberg Sunday Cup at the weekend, the trophy was back in Durham, much to the delight of manager Paul Aldsworth.

‘Pele’, as he’s known, arrived back in the village of Coundon on Monday after extended celebrations in Liverpool and was pleased be able to show off the prized silverware.

His side became Sunday Cup champions at the first attempt after being encouraged to enter by Durham rivals and last year’s winners Hetton Lyons CC, who they beat in the Second Round. Their emphatic victory over the Bristol & District Sunday League outfit capped an unbelievable season for the club.

“It’s a beautiful trophy, I keep looking at the detail on it. It’s absolutely brilliant,” said Aldsworth.

“We met up with some supporters in Liverpool after the game; there was about 100 of us, but I just wanted to be at home.

“Now, though, I’m back in the village, stood outside the Conservative Club having a pint and I feel like I’m home. The Cup’s in there and everybody’s looking at it – this is where I wanted The Cup to be.”

And, on Sunday, it never really looked like The Cup would be going anywhere else. With less than five minutes played, Coundon were already one-up thanks to skipper Lee Ellison, then Andy Thompson scored his first of a brace to make it 2-0 at half-time.

Thompson added the third with a header after the turn around with Coundon now attacking Anfield’s famous Kop end, and substitute Steve Johnson came on to score twice and seal a comfortable victory. But Aldsworth says it wasn't all plain sailing.

“Being 2-0 up at half-time is sometimes a strange position to be in as the next goal can be very important. If you concede early in the second half, 2-1 changes the game,” said Pele.

“It was difficult half-time as I thought there is two ways I can play this; either build them up and say how brilliant they were or rip them to bits, so I went in and ripped them to bits even though they were 2-0 up.

“It worked though. When they came out they were fantastic. Everything worked well, my substitutes came at the right times. Afterwards even the lads who didn’t get on said ‘who are we to argue, we’ve won The Sunday Cup’.”

He added: “It was an unbelievable day. It won’t sink in yet. We stayed down in Liverpool for another day and when my girlfriend phoned me this morning she said there was a write up in the local paper and it brought a tear to my eye, bringing it all back home."

But that’s only the start for Aldsworth and his Coundon Conservative boys, their run this season has given them the taste for The Sunday Cup and he’s promised to bring them back next year and try to retain their crown.

“In the early rounds we scraped through each game and I kept saying to the lads, we can do better, we can play better than this and I just think we’ve hit them on our day. It all clicked, we were solid, back to front for the whole 90 minutes. We won every header, every second ball.

“It’s amazing to think that when Hetton Lyons beat us in the County Cup last year we’d be where we are a year later. It’s been one heck of journey, we've gone all the way and surpassed all expectations."

He added: “But we’ve got to defend it now and we know it’s hard enough to win it, but even harder to retain it. Everyone who comes up against us next season will be 1-0 up at the start – their determination to beat us will make it even harder. But we’ll be in it to win it.”

Coundon Conservative
Mark Bell, John Jackson, Gary Ankers, Mark Foster, Michael Heckley, Paul Stout, Ian Lowes, Kevin Thompson, Karl Jones, Steven Denham, Kevin Bromley, Daniel Key, Danny Richmond, Alan Reid, Phil Brumwell, Stuart Owens, Kurt Warburton, Kevin Hamilton, Andy Thompson, Steve Butler, Scott Mickelson, Neil Lowdon, Stevie Johnson, Dave Jardine, Anthony Ebdon, Lee Ellison

Manager Paul Aldsworth

Lebeq Tavern Courage
Amin Jones, Darryl Saunders, Tarik Whitcliffe, Jarrod Bright, Aaron Cornwall, Kevin Scott, Errol Deans, Nicky Olu, Tavis Carter, Aaron Wilson, Andy Finch, Leon Simpson, Darren Brown, Dominic Holver, Twaine Plummer, Justin Bishop, Troy Simpson, Craig Stewart

Manager Owen Smith

Kit Colours

Coundon Conservative Red, Red, Red
Goalkeeper Yellow, Black, Yellow

Lebeq Tavern Courage Blue, Blue, Blue
Goalkeeper Green, Navy, Blue

Referee Karl Evans (Lancashire FA)
Assistant Referees Andrew Hutchinson (Cheshire FA) & Andrew Scregg (Liverpool FA)
Fourth Official David Coote (Nottinghamshire FA)

Attendance 1,289