Triumphant Team secure league & cup double
FC Team player-manager Mitch Young hailed his players for producing an “outstanding season” after Richard Salmon’s first half header saw them win the Barry Goldstein Trophy and secure a league and cup double.
Barry Goldstein Trophy Final:
FC Team B 1 Los Blancos 0
Sunday, 3 May, 2015
The Division Two champions over a Division One side in Blancos at Wingate on Sunday evening, and Young had nothing but praise for his side. He said: “I’m really proud of them, make no mistake this was a really difficult competition to win. It’s the perfect way to round off an excellent season and congratulations goes to all my players.
“We had to beat Raiders B in the semi-finals, followed by Blancos in the final, both of whom are excellent higher league sides. My players deserve tremendous credit.
“It’s been an unbelievable season, one we will all remember and to win the double is a tremendous achievement. We’ve been led by our captain Jon Breger who has been immense and he deserves a lot of credit being the heartbeat of this team.”
Sunday’s win was a close, tightly fought affair. Salmon’s 18th minute header from Lorian Madanes’ corner leaving Nick Grosse in the Blancos goal rooted to the spot.
While the first half was shorn of too many clear-cut chances, the skill and pace of Ben Binder down the right flank was causing Blancos all manner of problems, while at the other end, David Grossman in the Team goal was barely called into action.
That changed after the break when Grossman’s outstretched leg denied Blancos an equaliser, including thwarting top-scorer Adam Hersh who had run clean through the Team backline.
Delighted with the performance of his side, Young, who was forced to come off the bench late in the first half, said: “The game was a tight and edgy affair and the conditions made it very difficult to play good football. However, I thought my team defended brilliantly, everyone worked hard, our shape was good and our attackers were a constant threat. Credit to Blancos they are a very solid side with committed players and they did themselves proud today.”
Believing his side deserved to win, he added: “It was a very even game however on the amount of clear-cut chances we created, I believe we deserved to win.
“I was particularly pleased with my defenders. We had to take Daniel Silverman off after 30 minutes which meant a change in two positions out of the back four, and the guys who slotted in did so.
“I think the difference was that our defence kept their star striker quiet all game, but our star striker scored the winner.”
Los Blancos manager Jonathan Ison didn’t feel his side deserved to lose, saying: “That’s for sure. We played some nice football using the width of the pitch, showed our class on the ball and really battled hard. FC Team clearly have quality around their team, and were very dangerous on the break, with some last-ditch tackles saving us on a couple of occasions.
“I thought it was a pretty good game, especially for a minor cup final. I thought we played well, and slightly edged it in terms of performance, and it’s telling that a simple header was the difference between the two teams.”
Happy with his side’s performance, he said: “I was really impressed with how calm everyone was. For many in the squad, it was their first visit to Wingate, and they could have let the occasion get the better of them. All those on the pitch put in 100 percent effort and now we have the flavour for Wingate, we’re very much aiming to be back there next year.
“After a very poor start to the season, we excelled in 2015. Going on an unbeaten run of 8 games, and getting to the final of the BGT, we are all very pleased with how we turned things around. It’s a great shame we were not able to end the season with silverware, but we all really enjoyed the Wingate experience, we look forward to being back there next year, and to getting our revenge on FC Team in the league!”
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