Chadlington Reserves narrowly went down to a defeat in the final of the Jack Busby Memorial Trophy at Clanfield on Tuesday 25th April.
Despite starting the game in top gear, Chadlington couldn't get a break through in the game to reward their pressure. They even put the ball in the net only for the referee to bring the game back for a freekick to Chad due to an earlier infringement, a frustrating decision that baffled the players.
Their failure to take advantage gave Hailey Reserves the chance to get into the game themselves and they took the lead late in the first half via a neat header from a corner.
In the second half things got worse for Chad as Hailey doubled their lead and it looked as though the game was gone.
On 65 minutes they were given a lifeline as Chads top striker George Slatter turned poacher in the box by twisting and turning to make it 2-1. The goal reinvigorated the team and the large number of supporters. The momentum was back Chad.
The pressure was telling and just 10 minutes later a Sam Davin shot hit a Hailey defender on the line. It was clear that he had moved his arm towards the ball and stopped a certain goal. There was no doubt it was a penalty but for some unexplained reason the referee had to confer with the linesman and between them they concluded that it would just be a corner.
The rest of the game was end to end and on the large pitch both sides struggled to create further chances.
At full time it remained 2-1 to Hailey Reserves and they had retained the trophy. While the Chadlington players were gutted to have lost, they could hold their heads up high in their performance and attitude in defeat.
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