Timsbury travelled to Division One West table-toppers Somerton in this Quarter-Final of the Somerset County Premier and Division One Cup, and thoroughly deserved their 4–2 victory.
Somerton were blown away by the pace of Timsbury forwards, Blanin and Cook, and the margin of victory was greater than the scoreline suggests.
Somerton got their first taste of Blanin’s pace after five minutes, when a through-ball from Hancock resulted in a rising shot that just cleared the bar. Within a minute, Blanin harried the Somerton defence into a mistake, and his cross from the right found Cook free in the box to wrong-foot goalkeeper, Haines, to take the lead.
A Bishop pass allowed Cook a free run on goal, but his shot from the edge of the box just shaved the outside of the post. Timsbury increased their lead further after twenty minutes, when a Nix corner from the left was met by the head of Taylor, who gave the keeper no chance.
Blanin and Cook combined well to beat the Somerton defence again, only for Cook’s shot to clear the bar. It took Somerton until the half-hour mark before they had their first shot on goal, when a neat turn and shot from Brown was tipped over by Scrivens in the Timsbury goal. Scrivens was then called upon to make a point-blank save from the head of Sargent.
Timsbury finished the half as they started, when a Hancock through-ball left Cook one-on-one with the advancing keeper, who he chipped with ease to increase the lead further.
Timsbury maintained the upper hand at the start of the second half, with Blanin racing clear, only to see his shot well-saved. The persistence of Cook resulted in a fine cross from the left, finding Hancock unmarked in the area, only to see his volley fly high over the bar.
Scrivens was called upon to make a fine double-save from a rare Somerton attack. Both Blanin and Cook failed to take chances when well-placed, which would have killed the game off, but instead Somerton hit back.
First a speculative cross from the right by Lister hit the top of the bar, then a fine shot on the turn from Sargent found the top corner to make it 3–1, with 25 minutes remaining.
Somerton were unable to capitalise further, and with ten minutes left, another through-ball allowed Cook to complete his hat-trick, when he slid his shot under goalkeeper Haines to make it 4–1.
In the final minute of normal time, Sargent reduced the arrears with a shot from twenty yards, giving Scrivens no chance. Taylor was called upon to make a goal-line clearance during ten minutes of injury time, but with no further scares, Timsbury ran out worthy winners.
Star Man of the Match: Rhys Cook, Timsbury Athletic.
Rob Veater