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PICTURE: Old Windsor celebrate with the Slough Town Senior Cup after a 2-1 win against Singh Sabha in the final at Burnham FC on Good Friday. PHOTOS: Gary House.
Old Windsor have won their first-ever Slough Town Cup and Chairman, Gary Wade, is proud to have written the Club name into the history books.
The Os showed character and resiliency to recover from falling behind to beat Singh Sabha 2-1 in the final, in front of a bumper crowd at Burnham FC on Good Friday.
Sabha were bidding to retain the silverware won in 2019 (competition not completed in 2020 and 2021 because of the Coronavirus) and took the lead through Pritpal Raju.
Old Windsor, playing in their first Slough Town Cup final, levelled with a Joe Richards header before the break, and then won the match when Harry Farnan hit the back of the net with just minutes remaining, sending Os supporters into wild celebration.
A proud Wade, clinging onto the Cup, said: “I think if you ask the boys they’ll probably say they done it for me, which is very nice of them but, I do it for all the people that came before me.
“I joined the Club in 1988/89 with a Saturday team in the East Berkshire League. Before that, the Club hadn’t even been close to a Slough Town Cup final. We’ve never before had a good run in the Slough Town Cup, the semi finals in the Junior Cup is the closest we’ve ever got to a final.
“We’ve always wanted to get our name on the trophy and ours is now in the history books, with those big clubs.
“The team we have now is a young one, and a lot of young players in the reserves side as well. We’ve got people aged from 17 to mid-30s and the future of this Club is looking really good.
“We can, hopefully, keep this group of players together and perhaps add a couple more to the first team to make it even stronger.”
Wade explained that Old Windsor used the frustration of a previous defeat to Singh Sabha in the Ascot Cup this season as added motivation for the final, and believes the Os deserved the win in a close game with few chances.
He said: “We felt a little bit hard done by in the Ascot Cup. We used that as the ammunition to fuel the team to work hard and win, and that showed. The 16 players that we had out there gave everything for the team. That’s what has driven us forward to win the prestigious Slough Town Cup, and it’s great for the Club.
“We deserved it. We just about shaded it over the 90 minutes. Singh Sabha had their moments but without really troubling us, and there wasn’t many clear-cut chances. We just about deserved, on the balance of play, to win it. We took our chances. It was a pretty even game, as it always it with Singh Sabha, very close games and we just managed to knick this one.
“We were by far the better team in the first 20-25 minutes but the final ball wasn’t quite there. We put some balls in but there just didn’t quite run for us, and there was some good defending from Singh Sabha as well.
“Singh Sabha then caught us on the break with a good break.
“We know we always have a chance at set pieces with some big players and good headers of the ball. We put the ball into some dangerous areas, it was a great cross in by Luke Wight and Joe got up there with a towering header to put it in.
“We felt we should’ve been ahead at half-time. We played really well for that first 20-25 minutes just without any luck but, fair play to Singh Sabha, they scored a goal and made it hard for us. We should’ve been ahead rather than level but showed great character again to come back from being a goal behind.
“Scoring five before the end means you haven’t got long to hang on. We done the horrible thing of trying to disrupt the game and make it hard for Singh Sabha to put us under pressure for those final minutes. It was a great time to score because there was not much in that second half, not many saves from either goalkeeper.”
VIDEO: Old Windsor manager, Darren Wareham, reacts to winning the Slough Town Cup final.
The Slough Town Cup final was billed as the start of a trilogy between old rivals, Old Windsor and Singh Sabha, with the two set to clash again in a Premier Division Showcase Match at Stag Meadow on Friday 29 April (7.30pm), before the League Cup final at Burnham FC on Monday 2 May (2pm).
Old Windsor are chasing down Premier Division leaders, Britwell, (currently 10 points behind but with four matches in hand), and return to league action with a visit from bottom side Cressex on Wednesday evening (6pm) and then fifth-placed Iver Heath on Saturday (3pm).
Wade speculated: “I’ve told the players this is the first of three and our ambition is to win the three. Singh Sabha, will obviously try to stop us winning all three, and Britwell will still have a say in the Premier Division as well. It’s going to be a tough couple of weeks and will give it our best shot. The boys are up for winning all three but that’s going to be really, really hard.
“The famous old saying is to take one game at a time and there’s no easy games. Our next match is against Cressex on Wednesday night and they’ll be up for it, trying to impress ahead of the Presidents Cup final.
“We then player Iver Heath, who we know very well and love having a game against us. We’ve got to two games before we play Singh Sabha again.”
To enter the East Berkshire Football League ahead of the 2022/23 season, or for further information about the league, or an entry form for the upcoming season, please email the team at contactebfl@gmail.com
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