Sporting Weston FC had their biggest victory of the season this weekend as they beat Worle FC, a team 33 places above them in the football league, to take their place in the Somerset Senior Cup final.
The Somerset County Division 3 team, who currently sit 10 points clear at the top of their table, defeated the Premier Division side 5-4 on penalties after neither team could find the net in regular time.
Sporting have made a habit of getting into county finals, having won the Junior Cup the two seasons prior to this, but this is their first time making the final of the senior edition, and in their first season of competing in it no less.
This is also the team’s first time competing in the county league having been promoted from the Weston and District league last year, making their achievements for the season all the more impressive.
Sporting Weston head coach Adam Palmer reacted to his team’s progression into the final.
He said: “I am extremely proud of the players for reaching such a prestigious event in our debut season at county level.
“It’s testament to all the hard work the club have put in over recent years to take such a young talented squad to its third successive county cup final.
“We are excited for the opportunity to test ourselves against one of the top sides in the premier division”.
In what was a hard-fought game in terrible weather conditions and there two teams were inseparable until the very last kick of the penalty shoot out, with Sporting Weston not being intimidated by the wide rift in league positions between them and Worle.
Sporting Weston’s club secretary Gary Booth spoke after the game about his team’s performance and what it means to the club.
He said: “I know I’m bias but from my perspective we didn’t look out of place against a team who are in the county league Premier Division.
“The windy Weston-super-Mare weather wasn’t conducive to playing great football, but the guys tried and there was some very good one touch, two touch passing taking place.
“Obviously at the end everyone is very excited, it’s not a great way to win a semi-final and commiserations to Worle because it was a lottery in effect, but I honestly thought that the players had done enough to win that game, that they created more of the clear-cut opportunities and chances so I think the better team just edged it in the end.”
“It’s obviously nice to reach cup finals, especially when we’re playing teams who are 33 league places above us but I’m just proud of the players, of the coaches, and of the volunteers that work behind the scenes.
“So yeah it’s really good and really pleasing for us to be going to what is our third consecutive County Cup final, it’s an amazing achievement.”
Sporting Weston will now be taking on Wells City Reserves in the Senior Cup final, a team who currently sit nine places above their previous opponents Worle FC, on Tuesday April 30th.
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