CS’s First and Only Appearance in the Somerset Cup 2015/16

Travelling up to Portishead for Taunton CS first appearance in the Somerset Cup, a strong side stepped out to meet the home team North Somerset.

In goal, making a return to the CS team, was Joe Haynes, across the back line from left to right was Dan Green, Ali Johnston making his second appearance in as many days, Jim Smith and new starter to the team, Will Hopkins.

Taking on the challenging role of Central Defensive Midfielder was James Coles. Taking a step forward from the day before’s game from Left-back to Left-mid was Curt Bradley, with Skipper Fin Porter back in position on the right for the second day in the role. Simon Jones also reprised his role from the day before in the Central Attacking Midfield position.

With a big leap from being in goal the day before, Andy Carter opened the game up front with Lee Slade. The final player to have played 2 days in a row was Sam Woodland, who started out on the bench.

CS started the game well, moving the ball around when they had possession, holding a strong back line and some fantastic saves from Joe Haynes kept the score level at nil-nil. That was the first twenty minutes anyway.

From seemingly nowhere, North Somerset made some slick passes that ended up with the ball being played to a player on the back post and the flood gates opened.

There is not much to be said about the rest of the game. A Torrin-esque tantrum from Curt Bradley just before the half time whistle was blown, some great play from the back and midfield after the start of the second half had CS in possession for some time and watching Simon Jones attempt to take on the team in a driving motion multiple times with little avail.

This is not to say that CS did not have their opportunities. With several short corners and some good play around the box, CS did look dangerous at times. Sam Woodland may have had some great running, good positioning and an interesting hair style, but he can’t be let up for a swing and a miss 3 feet from the goal.

But after all of this, it can’t be helped but to mention the 10 minutes of time wasting in short corners by North Somerset, with 5-10 short corners in a row. Unfortunately, the last one - after the final whistle had been blown did lead to North Somerset’s final goal. The final score was 8-nil to North Somerset.

Man of the Match was awarded to Joe Haynes for the goals he saved, which racked high into the double figures. A solid return to the team.

The Honourable Mention goes to Will Hopkins, who pushed hard and played a great first game for CS.

DotD was given to Simon Jones, who demonstrated the definition of insanity, by attempting the same driving motion, alone, into the heart of North Somerset’s defence, again and again, expecting something to happen differently each time.

The last note on the game was that CS faced a team that greatly out-leagued them, stepped up toe to toe and held their own for the first 20 minutes. Many positive notions can be taken from the days performance.