The Stokes Cup final between St Marks and The Gate Hangs Well was a great occasion, with tremendous football warming up a bitterly cold night, especially for those groupies who all arrived at Holmes Park dressed in orange football shirts, in tribute to the kit colours of the eventual winners. Being underdressed on a Friday night is bad for your kidneys, ladies. Every player name announced over the speakers for St Marks was greeted with a Justin-Bieber type scream, and never before have I seen young women kitted out in such obvious dedication to their heroes. The last time a lady paid me so much devoted attention, she was wearing a peaked cap and trying to give me a parking ticket. Everywhere you looked was like a whole stand had been tangoed, but it only added to the sense of occasion and the spectacle of the night.
The night drew a big crowd as well despite the chilly temperatures (why are our Holmes Park finals always so cold?), and imagine what the attendance could have been if those thousands of morons queuing up for petrol on the forecourts had made it in time, and not missed the entire match after sitting outside BP with their engines running (and therefore using up even more fuel). The match itself started brightly, both sides were clearly relishing the occasion and the tackles – whilst very strong – were fair and competitive. The Gate had arguably the best chance of the first half – a diving header that went just wide, but the youthful St Marks players always looked dangerous going forward and The Gate defence (and keeper) stood up very well to the threat. The half time score was 0-0, and as usual I made my standard remark to a friend of mine in attendance: ‘This has got extra time written all over it’, which, ironically, always guarantees exactly the opposite. Reading through the programme, I noted that The Gate Hangs Well were sponsored by North & Sons who specialise in heating – they would have been the most welcome party on the night, even from my cosy (indoor) vantage point.
Early in the second half, Shane Birt opened up the scoring with a tremendous effort from a decent range, and the orange half of the main Holmes Park stand erupted like some kind of under ripe tomato being battered with a baseball bat. It was a quality strike, and seemed to make Birt even more popular with his female followers, although thankfully they resisted the temptation to invade the pitch or even streak on it which would have given the Alliance League committee a logistical problem even Dennis hadn’t thought of. As the game motored by, full credit must be given to The Gate Hangs Well. They decided to throw absolutely everything at their opponents, and the last ten minutes were the longest of all for the St Marks players – they were in a game and definitely knew it, although technically by this stage it was well past their bedtime, the average age of the squad being merely 19.
Then came the controversial moment of the evening – Chris Durrance for The Gate wheeled away in celebration with just minutes remaining, after thinking he had scored the equaliser, only for it to be ruled offside. Far be it from me to question an official, so all I can say is that I was much further away than the assistance referee. For an added hammer blow, with the clock virtually complete, David Butler popped up at the death and made it 2-0, and was promptly buried in a sea of orange (his team mates this time engulfing him, as opposed to the female fans, much to his disappointment). The final whistle went, and the Stokes Cup had a new name on it for 2012. To top his evening off, Birt was awarded the Man of the Match prize, although Alliance League chairman Morley Taylor looked distinctly nervous at handing over champagne to a player questionably around the legal limit to drink alcohol – but will in future be hired to conduct ‘sting’ operations in local off licences. Birt scored in every round though, including the final, so was well worthy of his award.
Full credit to the runners up – they never stopped working or running throughout the whole game, and more than played their part in the final. Regrettably, someone has to go home disappointed, such is the nature of the game. But for a final between two sides some 4 divisions lower than the two candidates vying for the Arthur Moore Cup this Friday, it was full of heart, passion and commitment. Both sets of players were a credit to themselves and the league, and served up a game that the other 3 finals will have to go some way to emulate.
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Mon 02 Apr 2012, 2:09 pm
