Debenham LC Suffolk FA Junior Cup SF
Saturday 7th March at Haughley United
Achilles and Stanton met in one of Suffolk’s Junior Cup semi-finals on Saturday 7th March at Haughley United; with similar league records, a large crowd and a place at a Portman Road final at stake, the match was always going to be close and competitive.
Ipswich-based Achilles had the better of the early stages, with strike duo Nuttall and Buscys going close within the first 10 minutes. The pressure finally began to toll when in the 19th minute an Achilles corner took an unfortunate deflection off Stanton centre-half Kingsbury past the helpless keeper Andy Mustoe.
Just 5 minutes later, Achilles winger Perry Arthur anticipated Liam Hillyard’s long through ball and raced on past Mustoe to slot home from a tight angle and give Achilles a 2-goal advantage.
The third, and what proved to be final, goal of the game came just 3 minutes later. Against the run of play Stanton gained a corner from a misplaced clearance and Dean Shave rose the highest to header-home and give the Stanton faithful hope again.
Achilles full-back Starling saw his header well-saved by Mustoe in the Stanton goal, in what was the final notable piece of action of an eventful and well-competed first half.
Stanton came out for the second half with a greater sense of purpose, and put the Achilles defence under some decent pressure. On the hour-mark Achilles were let off when Martin McConnell shot wide with just the Achilles keeper, Martin Smith, to beat. 3 minutes afterwards, Stanton's Ian Bloomfield headed wide from a dangerous corner.
These missed chances seemed to give Achilles a boost, and the remaining 20 minutes of the match saw Achilles take control again and apply some real pressure to the Stanton backline.
Firstly, Nuttall somehow managed to blast his effort over the bar from close-range following a superb mazy dribble from tricky-winger Arthur. Then Hillyard saw his shot blocked, from what appeared to be the Stanton keeper Andy Mustoe’s hand just outside of his penalty area. Mustoe got away with just a caution and Achilles failed to make use of the resulting free-kick.
With less than 5 minutes left Achilles’ Perry Arthur almost provided the icing on the cake for Achilles but was unlucky to see his thunderous drive crash off the bar, after being put through by stiker Adam Nuttall.
In the end, however, it didn’t matter as Achilles had done enough to win the match. They had controlled large parts of the game and, although they didn’t convert many of the chances they had created throughout the match, were worthy winners of a place at this summer’s Debenham LC Suffolk FA Junior Cup Final at Portman Road.
Action shots from the match are available by clicking under the image gallery
Elsewhere in the other semi final, cup holders Old Newton United triumphed over Thurston 3 – 1 to give them the opportunity to defend their Junior Cup winner’s title in what will surely prove to be a great climax to Suffolk FA’s Junior Cup trail.
Although the date of the Final has yet to be confirmed, you can click here for more on the Junior Cup
For more about Suffolk FA’s Junior Cup trail click here