Devon & Exeter League
Bill Slee Cup
Semi Final
Monday 2nd May 2022
Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.27
Awliscombe United 3 South Zeal United 1, attendance 84
1’ 1-0
20’ 2-0
90’ 2-1
90’+ 1, 3-1
@ Greenway Lane
Awliscombe
EX14 4SG
No Admission or Programme.
With the M25 and A303 both behaving, with just a two minute delay passing Stonehenge, it was an easy 2 hour 50 minute drive down to East Devon. The ground here is in as rural a setting as you could possibly find. If you head north east out of the village, on Greenway Lane, the pitch appears on the left hand side after about a mile, with parking on the opposite side of the road, on the driveway that leads to Hill Farm. There are no facilities at the ground, so players get changed at the Village Hall in Awliscombe, then travel to the pitch by car.
The match was 7th in Division 5 versus 3rd in Division 4, with the winners advancing to play Division 3 runners up Devon Yeoman in the final. Unusually, the game got underway three minutes early, with at least half the crowd missing the opening goal for Awliscombe, as they scored with the first attack, shooting in off the inside of the far post. They doubled their lead on twenty minutes, when a diagonal ball found their over lapping Left Back on the corner of the 18 yard box and he coolly lobbed the ’keeper with a first time shot.
South Zeal never really recovered from the early setback. They pushed hard to get back into it, but the Awliscombe defence stood firm and despite both teams making chances, it looked like the two early strikes would be enough to win it. However, a last minute goal saw the visitors pull it back to 2-1, finishing at the far post from a right wing cross, but Awliscombe went straight down the other end, restoring their two goal lead immediately, shooting into the far corner from the edge of the box. It was a well deserved win and the visitors could have no complaints. They were just beaten by the better team on the day.
Traffic on the return journey was relatively light, taking exactly three hours to drive home. Why can’t all Bank Holidays be like this……
