Bath & Keynsham Schools' Cup Final

On a muggy evening in Odd Down, St Philip's secured their second ever cup victory, avoiding the scare of a comeback to edge a thrilling match 4-3.

The match had begun so smoothly for St Philip's , Joe scoring after barely a minute played after some good interlinking play on the left-hand side. More goals were to follow: Zach scoring after breaking through two tackles and then Joe adding another after a long ball through from Josh. The 3-0 halftime scoreline did not flatter our team.

However, the real drama was to unfold in the second half.  With thunder now resounding through the sky, a crowd of 60 or so witnessed what at one point appeared to be a most dramatic comeback.  St John's broke through the St Philip's defence to pull one back, and when Sacha could only parry into his own net the score was 3-2 and nerves began to unsettle the team in orange bibs. It was now one-way traffic and it seemed only a matter of time until an equaliser was scored. But step up Sacha. With the ball in his hands he struck a speculative goal kick that rose high, bounced sweetly over the St John's keeper and landed (to everyone's disbelief) in the back of the St John's net! Cue wild celebrations of the entire St Philip's team.

But the action was not over. St John's would not give up that easily and scored again to bring the deficit back to one. A nervy few minutes was to follow, with some desperate clearances from George who again excelled at the back. The final whistle was a welcome relief to all from St Philip's. A victory hard-earned.