With the Division One winner’s trophy and the Wiltshire Junior Cup already locked away in their trophy cabinet, Heytesbury FC will arrive at the Oakfield Stadium, home of Melksham Town FC on Tuesday evening looking to claim a League and Cup treble.
Standing in their way of lifting the Chantry Digital sponsored Knockout Cup and a third piece of silverware are Second division FC Devizes United (Saturday) who will have to conjure up something special if they are going to deny Tom Willoughby’s side their third piece of silverware this term.
Heytesbury who wrapped up the Division One title at the end of February shouldn’t take anything for granted especially as their opponents have had a couple of notable successes on the way to the final.
Devizes started their cup adventure by hosting Heytesbury Reserves and they eased into the second round of with a confident 5-0 win Charlie Strickland was the Devizes hero, netting himself a fine hat-trick. Jake Hiscock and Dalton Bridewell scored the other goals.
Next up for Devizes were fellow division two side Freshford United who they had to come from behind to beat 2-1. After a goalless first half it was Ben Simmonds who put Freshford United into the lead before two strikes from Jordan Anning booked them a place in the quarter-finals where they met Bradford Town ‘A’.
FC Devizes edged past fellow Division Two side Bradford with a hard fought 2-1 win. In a goal-less first half both teams played some excellent football and both teams were denied by the woodwork as chances couldn’t be converted into goals. After the break it was Devizes who opened the scoring when a Carl Ledbury shot from just outside the area just evaded the Bradford keeper. A penalty struck home by Charlie Strickland midway through the second half then doubled FC Devizes advantage. Oli Sterling struck for Bradford to reduce the arrears to one and make for a nervy finish but the Devizes defence held out for the win
Standing in the way of a cup final appearance were Division One outfit The Duke and it would be fair to say that Devizes were at their best as they stunned their opponents with a 2-0 success. After 90 minutes failed to produce a winner a goal in each half of extra time from Archie Haggerty booked Devizes a place in the final.
FC DEVIZES UNITED (SATURDAY) FC
Back Row L-R: Evan Webster (Manager), Kian Fulford, Jake Hiscock, Macaulay Chamberlain (Captain), Jack Woods, Carl Ledbury, James Stobbart, Olly Gale (Assistant Manager)
Front Row L-R: Isaac Wain, Archie Haggerty, Cameron Lee, Aram Hussain, Liam Hall, Declan McStravick, Dalton Bridewell
With the Division One winner’s trophy and the Wiltshire Junior Cup already locked away in their trophy cabinet, Heytesbury FC will arrive at the Oakfield Stadium, home of Melksham Town FC on Tuesday evening looking to claim a League and Cup treble.
Standing in their way of lifting the Chantry Digital sponsored Knockout Cup and a third piece of silverware are Second division FC Devizes United (Saturday) who will have to conjure up something special if they are going to deny Tom Willoughby’s side their third piece of silverware this term.
Heytesbury who wrapped up the Division One title at the end of February shouldn’t take anything for granted especially as their opponents have had a couple of notable successes on the way to the final.
Devizes started their cup adventure by hosting Heytesbury Reserves and they eased into the second round of with a confident 5-0 win Charlie Strickland was the Devizes hero, netting himself a fine hat-trick. Jake Hiscock and Dalton Bridewell scored the other goals.
Next up for Devizes were fellow division two side Freshford United who they had to come from behind to beat 2-1. After a goalless first half it was Ben Simmonds who put Freshford United into the lead before two strikes from Jordan Anning booked them a place in the quarter-finals where they met Bradford Town ‘A’.
FC Devizes edged past fellow Division Two side Bradford with a hard fought 2-1 win. In a goal-less first half both teams played some excellent football and both teams were denied by the woodwork as chances couldn’t be converted into goals. After the break it was Devizes who opened the scoring when a Carl Ledbury shot from just outside the area just evaded the Bradford keeper. A penalty struck home by Charlie Strickland midway through the second half then doubled FC Devizes advantage. Oli Sterling struck for Bradford to reduce the arrears to one and make for a nervy finish but the Devizes defence held out for the win
Standing in the way of a cup final appearance were Division One outfit The Duke and it would be fair to say that Devizes were at their best as they stunned their opponents with a 2-0 success. After 90 minutes failed to produce a winner a goal in each half of extra time from Archie Haggerty booked Devizes a place in the final.
Heytesbury’s route to the final began with a first round walkover, drawn to play last terms losing finalists they were awarded the tie after Potterne withdrew from the League. They they then kicked off their cup campaign with a 5-4 victory over the Cup holders Seend United, thanks to a late winner.
Seend started off on the front foot and took an early two goal lead with strikes from Kieran Fereday and Rich Hudson. It wasn’t until the 20th minute that Heytesbury sprang into life when Liam Gibbens pulled one back for the home side. A Jake Wright penalty brought the game level on 25 minutes and four minutes later Gibbens hit his second of the game to complete the Heytesbury comeback and take them into the break 3-2 ahead.
In the second half Seend came back fighting and a penalty converted by Samuel Dodds levelled the match once again with 20 minutes left on the clock. In an end-to-end thrilling match Adam Welch struck on 77 minutes to put Heytesbury 4-3 in front but just 2 minutes later Ben Ryder equalised again for Seend to make it 4-each. In a match that looked to be heading for extra time it was Myles Woodward who struck the decisive winner for Heytesbury with 9 minutes left to play.
Next up should have been a quarter-final showdown with First division stable mates Bromham, however the latter were unable to raise a teams, giving Heytesbury a free passage into the semi-finals.
For a place in the final they faced a tough challenge when they travelled to Second division hotshots Park United who they defeated 3-1 in a match worthy of being the Final itself.
With little to choose between the sides it was Heytesbury who made the breakthrough on 23 minutes when Sam Wright raced through the middle and fired the ball home from 18 yards to put the villagers 1-0 ahead.
Park had their best chance of an equaliser on 55 minutes but were denied by a great double save by keeper Sam Spratt, a few minutes later he denied Park again with a smart diving stop that really should have seen the rebound put away, but was blasted over the bar.
The miss was to prove costly when on 61 minutes a Myles Woodward corner was met by Callum Hotine who powered home a bullet head to double Heytesbury’s lead.
Park never gave up and with 15 minutes remaining they were given a lifeline, a good finish from Darrin Moss reduced the deficit to the odd goal and it was game on.
Park threw players forward looking for that all important second goal, but wasn’t to be as in the final minute Heytesbury won a corner, good play between Woodward and Reece Collyer saw the later break clear of two defenders before being upended in the area.
Collyer picked himself up and dispatched the resulting penalty to complete a 3-1 success for Heytesbury and put them into a second final.
HEYTESBURY FC
Back Row L-R: Liam Gibbens, Adam Welsh, Callum Hotine, Ben Howlett, Harry Hamlin, Kieran Green, Sam Spratt, Warren Moreland, Sam McEntee, Kieron Edwards, Sam Roberts, Adam Fearon (Assistant Manager). Front Row L-R; Tom O’Brien (Chairman), Reece Collyer, Jake Wright, Tom Willoighby (Manager), Dan Dicks, Rodney Mullens (President), Sam Wringt, Myles Woodward, Martyn Spratt (Secretary).
Heytesbury will be firm favourites to lift the Knockout Cup, however they should face a tough challenge from a FC Devizes United side, looking to inflict the villagers with a first defeat of the season.
If both teams are up for it, the final has the makings of being a classic and we could be treated to a goal fest.
Admission to the Final that Kicks-Off at 7.30pm is £3.00
