Peter Raynbird Cup Final. Hook 2 Rising Sun DC 1.

Hook picked up their second trophy of the season after this 2-1 win over a strong Rising Sun DC side at Winklebury in the Peter Raynbird Cup Final on Saturday evening.
With Basingstoke A Cup already in their trophy cabinet they set about beating their opponents with a strong start and almost took the lead in the 3rd minute when Pete Silvester forced a good save from keeper Andy Bennett.. Aaron King forced Bennett to save with his feet in the 17th and they then took the lead in the 35 minute when Silvester took a free kick way out on the left from some 30 yards and it somehow got through the crowded penalty area and ended up in the far corner of the net. Hook really should have extended their lead in the 30th when a pass from Dan Mellor rebounded off a defender nicely to Andy Haig who with an open goal hit the post. .
Hook had by far the better of the first half and they continued it into the second half when after 53 minutes they went two goals ahead. A short corner by James Westwood to Dave White and his cross from the left was met with a bullet header by Jon Noakes giving Bennett no chance. Noakes, who had a great game in the Hook midfield, went off injured after this, with Dan Mason replacing and Rising Sun then had a good spell when Lorne Howard had a goal bound shot blocked, the ball rebounded to Gordon Birch who fired the chance wide. Ben Nicholls also went close before he pulled a goal back in the 78th minute. Joe Richardson was causing problems on the right flank in this rally, sent over a fine cross and Ben Nicholls headed strongly past keeper Greg Archer, who had handled well throughout and although Rising sun pressed strongly after this, the Hook defence held firm to see the game out.
The Cup and awards, including the Man of the Match Award, won by Peter Silvester, were presented by Vanessa Raynbird, daughter of Peter Raynbird

It was a restricted League programme this week with just five matches due to be played and two of these, the Premier Division match between Basingstoke Royals and Bramley United was called off with United unable to raise a team and likewise in Division Two Sherborne Reserves did not have enough players to play AFC Berg.
I went to Sherborne to see them play Tadley in the Premier Division, won by Tadley 3-2 with the winner, scored by Kye Theodore in the 90th minute.
Theodore gave Tadley a 21st minute lead after waltzing round two men and shot in off the post and Dec Shuttleworth forced a diving save from the Tadley keeper Monger before Tadley went down to ten men. Stephen Burgess sent off for abusive language. Sherborne drew level in the 57th when Sam Hilton netted after a corner by Alex Izzo was not cleared well. In the 60th Sherborne went down to ten men when Shuttleworth was shown the red card after words to the linesman Referee Adrian Fuller did not approve off .The game really took off after this with Theodore forcing a fine diving save from Matt Livingstone and in the 80th minute they went to 2-1 ahead when a 25 yard drive by Andy Johnson got through the crowded six yard box. Sherborne were quick to respond when Jack Stallard scored from 30 yards out. With full time almost up, a cross from Bradley Nash, who had come on for the last 15 minutes and certainly livened up the Tadley attack, sent in a perfect cross from the left and Theodore was at the far post to head home the decider.
In midweek Welly Old Boys met Rising Sun DC and lost 10-1.
In Division Two it was a nine goal thriller between Winklebury Wizards and Herriard, with Wizards running off 5-4 winners, despite a hat trick from Jake Burrows, the Herriard striker. Louis Clayton gave Wizards the lead after good play by Ben Clark and Dan Goodyear in the 30th minute. Martin Miles volleyed in a Doug Gray corner to level and after determined play by Karl Buttle he set up Jake Burrows for the Herriard lead and this was extended when Burrows scored with a diving header from Craig Lewington corner kick. In the 53rd Alex Stevens pulled it back to 2-3 and Charlie Smith netted the equalizer. A pile driver from Burrows completed his hat trick, but in the 78th minute Josh Dickens ran through the exposed Herriard defence to level again and then in the 85th minute a free kick taken by Smith was finished off by Dean Scott. In ten 90th minute the Herriard keeper John Hamill saved a penalty.
Bounty United finished their season with a 3-0 defeat against Basingstoke United and after looking likely promotion candidates at the beginning of the month, have now dropped ten points in the last four matches and could finish fourth. Cricket committ5ments have weakened their lineup, but United had no such problems and took the lead after 20 minutes through Tom Hartley following a Jamie Lucas pass from midfield. A throw in from Gavin Harkness led to Hartley making it 2-0 by the break Richard Reece did hit the bar for Bounty, but little other response and Dan Southgate scored the third for United in a one on one with keeper Szymon Dowszynski, who made some decent saves during the game.