CUP FINAL PREVIEW: Sporting Hackney and Three Colts do battle for the Division 1 Cup
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The Division One Cup reaches it’s conclusion for the season at Dagenham & Redbridge FC on Monday night as third-placed Three Colts face sixth-placed Sporting Hackney Reserves in the final. We look ahead to the cup final and provide some insight into who might be crowned winners on the night.
Division One Cup Final
Sporting Hackney Reserves vs Three Colts
At Dagenham & Redbridge FC, 7.30pm Kick-Off
This final brings together two of Division One’s finest sides as Sporting Hackney look to spring a surprise against their lofty opponents in the form of Three Colts.
As we look back twelve months to last season’s Division One Cup Final, the match saw the all-conquering Grove United side come head-to-head with Kitgum Boys at Victoria Road. A very closely fought match saw very few chances to either side as the game ended 0-0 and went all the way to the dreaded penalty shootout. John Hughes’ penalty ultimately settled the match to confirm a victory and double for Grove United on the night. We hope to see a few more goals this year!
For Hackney-based Sporting Hackney Reserves, this is their first season with the Essex Alliance League following their move from the Middlesex County League and it has been a really solid season despite struggling for consistency at stages. A sixth-placed finish with seven league victories represents a good opening campaign in the league for Pat Greene’s side and they will be looking to build on that position in the new season for sure. Their run to this final has taken in a scintillating nine-goal thriller in the quarter finals where they ran out winners by the odd goal 5-4 against Ferns Seniors before facing Cowley Community in the semi-finals in April. In that semi-final, they were pushed all the way by fourth-placed Cowley but ultimately came through the tie by winning 3-1 to book their place at Dagenham & Redbridge for the final. The goals have been spread around this Hackney side this season but it’s Olajide Yusuff who leads the way with nine goals for the season and is therefore our man to watch in the Parrot’s ranks.
Sporting’s opponents on Monday night are Matt Daley and Patrick Waite’s Three Colts side from Buckhurst Hill who have once again been fighting on all fronts this season having just missed out on promotion in the latter stages of the season. That makes it two really strong seasons in succession for Colts who you can always expect a tough game with and are good enough to beat anybody on their day. Their own run to Monday night’s final started with a victory against East Ham International in the quarter-finals of the competition, winning 4-1 to make the draw for the semi-finals where they faced last season’s runners-up in the shape of Kitgum Boys. The Colts put in a triumphant semi-final performance as they rattled six goals past Kitgum to win 6-1 and book their place at Dagenham. Elliott Brown scored two of the goals with Richard Blackwell, Jason Fox, Tom Jakob and Callum Kennedy all netting to secure their side’s progress on the day. Callum Kennedy leads the club’s scoring charts this season with 11 goals in 14 appearances to make him the man to watch but there have also been strong goal scoring contributions from Jason Fox and Tom Jakob too.
The league games between these sides have seen a win to each side, ironically with five goals scored on each occasion by the winning team as Three Colts took the honours in December winning 5-1 before Sporting Hackney returned to win 5-0 at home in February so this is almost impossible to call! Three Colts’ superior league record makes them the favourites on paper but Sporting possess the weapons to cause a surprise of sorts on the night.
Congratulations to our appointed match officials on this final, a reward for the continued hard work put in by our referees across the season. The man with the whistle is Mark Hankin after another fine season and he will be ably supported by Paul Shea and Malcolm Pond from the touchlines. Completing the quartet, Keith Everett will handle the fourth official duties on the evening.