After beating Milton Abbey School back in March, the Bethany U16 football team reached the Southern Final of the National Cup.

On Wednesday 17th April, Bethany hosted Cokethorpe School in the Southern Final in what proved to be an exciting clash between the two teams. The winner would go on to play the Northern Final winners in the National Final.

A very close first half saw both teams battling away to gain the advantage, possession was pretty much dominated by Cokethorpe, who settled the quickest, successfully stringing together some well worked passing patterns, often looking to play a long diagonal ball to try and expose the Bethany full backs.

Bethany defended stoically, with the defence finding themselves under increasing pressure. Bethany goalkeeper, Hux Maunder-Allan, was superb with his positioning, sweeping up any long ball that came through the middle. Bethany fullbacks defended both flanks very well, and on occasions when they were defeated, the centre back’s and midfielders dealt with any issues very well. As the first half was drawing to the close, Cokethorpe found a way through and broke the deadlock. Bethany finished the first half 0-1 down, but were very much still in the game.

Bethany started the second half as the better side, coming close on a number of occasions. A fine save from the Cokethorpe goalkeeper prevented George Vincent from equalising, and at this stage it seemed as though the visitors started to lose their confidence. However, Bethany failed to capitalise on their dominance, whilst Cokethorpe started to settle and gain more possession and a new found confidence. With 30 minutes to go, fitness levels and fresh legs made a positive difference for Cokethorpe as the visitors then scored three quick goals in the dying embers of the game to rubber stamp their victory.

After the game, Mr DeSouza, Bethany U16 football coach, said, “Firstly, I’d like to thank to the ground staff, who provided a fantastic surface for both teams. On the day, Cokethorpe were the better side and we wish them the very best against the Northern champions. We are very proud of all of our players who contributed to us reaching the southern final, they ran themselves into the ground. Our players gave everything, some carrying injuries for a considerable amount of time before reluctantly being substituted. This was Bethany’s first final, an achievement the players should be very proud of and hopefully a success we can build on in the future.”

Final score: Bethany 0-4 Cokethorpe School