Youths lose Cup final

02 May 2002

Birmingham Senior Cup Final: WBA Youth 0 - Nuneaton Youth 2 AET

"Nuneaton will enjoy playing on the lush pastures of the Hawthorns" said the newspaper article, apparently. What they didn't appreciate, however, was that eleven days earlier that pitch had seen the soles of thousands of pairs of shoes as all hell had let loose when Albion won promotion. The area in front of the dugout in particular was a sea of brown earth and craters with patches of grass struggling to show through, and the rest of the pitch wasn't much better.

Nonetheless, it didn't seem to worry either team, or the thousand or so Nuneaton fans who'd made the trip (complete with drum) to cheer their side to victory in the final of the Birmingham Senior Cup. Despite the name, of course, both sides consisted of young players with only Chris Adamson, the subject of hot contract debate, having first team experience for the home club.

Nuneaton had the brighter start, forcing a corner after only three minutes, but the offside flag was raised during the follow up. Albion responded with a ten minute spell of pressure, but had only a couple of long range shots to show for it. Nuneaton striker Jason Harris showed some neat play on the edge of the Albion area, using his obvious strength to force his way past a few defenders, but was disposessed just in time. Adamson saw plenty of action, first coming way out from his goal to deny Harris' good run down Albion's left, and then forced into a diving save from Northern Ireland U21 midfielder Maurice Harkin.

Albion again mounted a good spell of pressure with Josh Perry first denied by defender Terry Angus, and then by goalkeeper Chris MacKenzie, and with almost half an hour played, his best shot of the game beat MacKenzie from long range but glanced off the top of the crossbar. Nuneaton again took the upper hand with Peake, Harkin, Angus and Payton all wasting chances and giving Adamson anything but an easy ride. Just before half time, full back Adam Cooper's drive put the ball in the net, but the flag was up for offside and it was ruled out. Albion ended the half with a long range shot from Lloyd Dyer, which flashed wide of the right hand post, and a corner which was comfortably cleared.

Albion replaced left wing-back Kevin Bruce at half time with Jack Cudworth, and the first ten minutes or so was pretty even with no real chances. Nuneaton replaced Harris with Lee Charles (according to the teamsheet, but I think it's wrong!), who proceeded to cause plenty of problems for the rest of the game. On the hour, a high ball into the Albion box was caught by Adamson, but Turner then appeared to head it out of his hands and a minor panic ensued before the ball was cleared for a corner which Tammy Mkandawire made no mistake in heading out to safety.

On 65, Nuneaton replaced Peake with Dave Crowley, and soon after Albion's Simon Brown made a good run through midfield only to be hacked down 30 yards from Nuneaton's goal for a free kick, which Dyer played out wide to be cleared for a corner, leading in turn to a goalmouth scramble which was ended by keeper MacKenzie. Nuneaton immediately broke and had a shot blocked, and Albion responded with Dyer winning a corner but seeing it headed wide of the far post. Nuneaton responded quickly, and a defensive lapse by Albion saw Charles get in a fierce shot from the edge of the area which bounced back off the right hand post. Nuneaton won a free kick just outside the Albion 18 yard area but blasted it just over the bar, and soon afterwards Adamson was forced to try and claim the ball from the onrushing Charles, winning a free kick. A good cross by Ross Adams won Albion a late corner, from which Cudworth wasted an opportunity by blasting high and wide and Adamson had the last say in normal time when he rushed out again to again deny Charles.

Nil-nil, and into extra time. Adamson pulled off a good early save to deny what looked like a certain goal for Nuneaton, but they were looking the stronger side and after ten minutes Adamson was finally beaten - despite pulling off a great double save it was the impressive Charles who fired home from close range at the third attempt, and a minute later, Nuneaton doubled their lead when John Turner made a great run down Albion's right, cut across into the box and fired the ball inside the far post. Nuneaton finished the first period of extra time with another good chance, but shot wide after Albion's defence had opened up for them again.

Nuneaton replaced Harkin with Andy Thackeray for the last 15 minutes, and after two minutes Albion made a bizarre substitution, with keeper Dan Crane replacing midfielder Daniel Carey-Bertram, and after a bit of touchline shirt-swapping Crane ended up in goal with Adamson playing up front; bizarre, because a few minutes later Adamson was caught in an extremely rare offside position! Unfortunately, it made little difference, and the game calmed down as players tired to some extent and Nuneaton hung on comfortably for the win.

An entertaining evening, certainly a large and vocal crowd for a reserve game, leading even to token gestures by the stewards at crowd segregation! Nuneaton collected their trophy to protracted cheers from their fans, who went home tooting horns and waving scarves as though they'd won the Cup Final. Which, of course, they had...

Albion: Adamson, Midworth, Bruce (Cudworth,46), Ross Adams, Gowling, Mkandawire, Richard Adams, Carey-Bertram (Crane,108), Perry, Brown (Warmer,103), Dyer

Nuneaton: MacKenzie, Cooper, Love, Angus, Howey, Lavery, Turner, Harkin (Thackeray,106), Harris (Charles,55), Peake (Crowley,65), Payton

Previous Stories:

  01 May 2002:  Dingles denied!

  30 April 2002:  Thompson to resign

  30 April 2002:  Announcement due tonight

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