F.A. Sunday Cup 2nd Round

Sunday 19th November 2023

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.04

F.C. Bapco 2 East Christchurch Sports & Social 0, attendance 128

60’ 1-0

84’ 2-0

@ The Royals Academy Training Complex, 3G Pitch

Adjacent to Reading F.C.

Boot End

Reading

RG2 0FL

No Admission

Programme, free. 7 x A4 single side printed pages stapled together

This was Reading & District Sunday League versus Bournemouth Sunday League. The game was originally due to be played at Marlow F.C. but having been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch last week, it was re-arranged to take place on the 3G pitch here at Royals Academy, which is adjacent to the Reading F.C. stadium, located behind the indoor training dome at the far end of the car park. Quite why the F.A. allow a national competition to be played in a 3G cage that has no spectator access is beyond me. It meant there was no admission charge and despite there being no designated spectator area, there was no problem with watching from inside the fence…..well, until halftime that is. With the linesman on the entrance side constantly having to tell kids who were playing with a football to get off the pitch during the game (the parents did nothing to stop them), it came as no surprise that everyone was told to watch from outside for the second half. Far easier to punish 120 spectators, than removing the handful of ‘problem kids’!

The game itself saw two evenly matched teams, with very little between them. There were few real clear cut chances. Bapco broke the deadlock on the hour mark, when a cross was controlled and finished into the far corner by Liam Ferdinand. Six minutes from the end he made the game safe, when he scored again, when another cross from the right was finished with a first time shot at the near post.