We are the champions! Moles scoop cup
Binfield 2 Thatcham Town 1
SANCHEZ COMMOCK was the unlikely hero as Binfield ended their season with a brilliant victory over Hellenic Premier champions Thatcham.
The club believed Commock would be cup-tied for the Floodlit Cup final having joined from Highmoor Ibis earlier this season, but he was given the all clear to play.
And the winger took full advantage, scoring both of Binfield’s goals as they saw off the Kingfishers 2-1, despite a late Shane Cooper-Clark penalty.
Those strikes helped Roger Herridge lift his first piece of silverware as Moles boss, having lost all five of his previous cup finals with the club.
“We thought Sanchez was going to be cup-tied,” explained the Binfield boss.
“But at the last minute we’ve realised he’s not and thank God he wasn’t.
“He’ll get all the glory for the two really, really good goals but we needed to have a lot of 10 out of 10 performances.
“We just needed to make sure that we worked hard and made things difficult for them.
“One of the things I emphasised before the game was to make sure we didn’t give away an early goal because we’ve done that too much.
“I thought we were fantastic.”
Despite coming into the game on the back of four straight losses, Binfield made a strong start with Ian Davies flicking the ball on for Commock, but goalkeeper Chris Rackley was quick off his line to save.
Commock would not be denied and, on 15 minutes, finding space in the box he powered in a header from a Sean Moore cross.
Thatcham, who came into the game unbeaten in 40 matches, responded and went close through
Gavin James and Cooper-Clark, but keeper Henry Craven was equal to the task on both occasions.
But Craven was almost punished for fumbling a Tom Browne free-kick on the half hour mark, which led to another chance for Cooper-Clark, but he headed over the bar.
And Thatcham’s key man CooperClark continued to threaten after the restart, curling a fierce shot against the crossbar from outside the area.
That proved to be a key moment as the Moles quickly broke down the other end with Commock driving at the defence and cutting inside before brilliantly firing into the top corner to double the tally to spark jubilant scenes on the Binfield bench.
Moore then saw an effort parried over before the Kingfishers set up a nervy finish. The chance looked to have gone when Jordan Francis Brown headed over from close range, but referee
Greg Kornasiewicz inexplicably pointed to the penalty spot to give Thatcham a golden opportunity with five minutes to play. Cooper-Clark stepped up, sending Craven the wrong way and netting via the post for his 60th goal of a remarkable season.
Substitute Ross Cook had one final effort in stoppage time, but blazed over as Binfield held on.
“At times it wasn’t pretty but we had a game plan and it worked,” said Herridge.
“I felt we controlled the game.
“I don’t think we looked in too much danger in the second half until the referee’s made one of the strangest decisions. He left everyone in the ground speechless.
“I’ve got to be honest, I was in the dugout and you fear the worst then.
“I’m thinking to myself, crikey here we go again, because we’ve lost from winning positions a few times this year. “But the boys deserve it, they’ve worked really, really hard all season.”
BINFIELD: Craven; Thompson-Wheeler, Smith, Brown, Shaw; Knight (c), Laflin; Santoro, Moore (Colverd 87), Commock; Davies. Subs not used: Gritt, Gavin, Powell, Yorke.
Attendance: 268