IT’S SUPER TROOPER, CAPPED BY COBOURNE
MIDLANDERS Trooper FC won The FA Sunday Cup for the first time after coming from behind to beat Liverpool’s Home Bargains at Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium.
Thomas Owens put the Merseysiders in front in the first half but goals after the break from Danico Johnson and Simeon Cobourne turned the tide in favour of the Solihull club.
A healthy crowd of 1,542 turned up to see whether this clash continued the recent terend of thrilling finales – and the fans weren’t left disappointed.
The first half was evenly balanced, both sides carving out decent opportunities but both goalkeepers were in fine form.
However, Bargains took the lead in the 40th minute with an incisive move down the left flank, the ball being played back into the path of Owens who made no mistake from close range at the far post.
The Liverpool outfit could have extended their advantage early in the second half when sloppy defending by Trooper was not punished with Brendan O’Brien curling his attempt wide.
Trooper pushed Bargains onto the defensive and they eventually drew level on 60 minutes when Johnson, swivelled and turned before firing a low shot past the flailing Germano Mendez.
And 15 minutes later, Trooper scored a goal that would grace most finals, on any big stage. At lightning speed from just inside their opponents half, Trooper advanced goalwards and following swift inter play, Cobourne steered the ball into the bottom corner.
“Super Trooper” was the chant from the fans in the stands and from the players in the dressing room. It would be hard to argue.
Until the 1960s, The FA was so dismissive of Sunday football that its players faced possible disciplinary action, although this was often avoided by playing under assumed names.
How times change. In recognition of this competition’s status and the significance of Sunday football in the wider sense, the FA Chair, Debbie Hewitt, was in attendance at the match and awarded the trophy and medals.