There was no fairytale ending to the season for Timsbury Athletic who were beaten 5-2 by Premier League Shirehampton in the final of the Somerset County League Cup for Premier and Division 1 clubs. There was no lack of effort from the village side but they met an experienced team who showed a clinical edge up front when it mattered with striker Scott Bamford claiming a second half hat-trick.
The game took some time to get going with Lewis Blannin having the earliest chance for Timsbury after a mix-up in the Shirehampton defence. It was 22 minutes before Jack Scrivens in the Timsbury goal had any serious work to do pushing a Bamford free-kick around the post. A speculative effort from Richard Brightwell then came close to opening the score before the breakthrough came on the half-hour when Jack Stewart forced the ball home for Shirehampton after a goalmouth melee.
Timsbury began the second half brightly but within seven minutes of the restart were two goals down when Brightwell hit an unstoppable shot past Scrivens. Timsbury substitute Ebner Heatley clipped the Shirehampton post with his first touch of the ball but on the hour things got even worse for the village side when Bamford raced clear to grab the first of his three goals with an excellent finish.
Timsbury to their credit never stopped battling and were rewarded for their efforts when Ellis Hancock pulled a goal back with a quarter-of-an-hour left. Mark Johnson rattled the Timsbury bar with a terrific shot before the potent Bamford made it 4-1. Still Timsbury came back and Matt Brooks headed home the team’s second goal before inevitably Bamford had the final word with another crisp finish in stoppage time.
It was not the conclusion to the season that Timsbury had wanted but overall it has been another excellent campaign for the village team under the charismatic leadership of Dom Eatherden.
Malcolm Tucker
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