Earley Gunners made their way to the final of the Eddie Titchener Cup with a 4 - 1 win over Elm Park. Elm Park had the better of the first 20 minutes and opened the scoring when a ball was chipped over the defence to their forward who volleyed home from close range. Elm Park had a good chance to double the lead but a lunging challenge by Paul Ali in the six yard box blocked the shot. Gunners then got into the game and equalised when Neil Rumbold chased a long ball and struck the ball home from some distance.
Gunners then took the lead when Dave Owen made another powerful run towards the goal and hit the ball home from the edge of the box. Elm Park had a couple of late chances to equalise, Julian Willis tipped a free-kick over bar and then the opposition headed underneath the bar and the ball came out and was cleared.
The half time score was 2-1 to Gunners although Gunners did have a chance to add a third when they decided to play pinball in the opponents goal, fortunately for Elm Park they just managed to get the ball clear.
In the second half Gunners had the advantage of the slope and the slight wind and they dominated the majority of the game. Gunners had control of the midfield with Darren Fry making some good breaks on the left and Dave Owen and Paul Clark controlling the middle whilst Nick Burrows made some good tackles in midfield.
Phil Byrne added his name to the score sheet after a break down the right and a cross into the box allowed Phil to finish from close range and he soon added another from inside the six yard box after some good work from Paul Clark. Elm Park made the odd break but Julian Willis was only really called into action once in the second half when he raced towards the edge of the box and cleared the ball away. On other occasions some calm defensive play by Sean Kearns and some good clearances by Paul kept the opposition away.
The second half was fairly comfortable and Gunners ended up with a 4 - 1 win and a place in the final.
Match Facts
Goals : P Byrne (2), N Rumbold (1), D Owen (1)
Team
