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PICTURE: Old Windsor Reserves star, Dylan Harbridge (left) celebrates after opening the scoring with a stunning 25-yard strike in the 6-1 win against Chalvey Sports in the Ascot & District Fielden Cup on Saturday. PHOTO: Gary House.
Old Windsor Reserve team manager Laurence Chetwynd hopes that winning through to the Semi Finals in the Ascot & District Fielden Cup will be the catalyst to push forward into an exciting end to the season.
The Os thrashed Chalvey Sports 6-1 in a Quarter Finals tie played as a Showcase Match at The Racecourse Ground in Ascot on Saturday night. The man-of-the-match, Dylan Harbridge, scored two goals in his star performance, with further strikes from Liam Spires, Rashid Christian, Connor Clemens and Jake Bartlett.
Their reward is a home tie in the Semi Finals against Britwell on Saturday 15 April (2pm KO). That follows the Reserve team’s clash with Frontline Reserves in the Semi Finals of the East Berkshire League Presidents Cup, played at Britwell FC on Saturday 1 April (12.30pm KO).
VIDEO: Old Windsor Reserves team manager, Laurence Chetwynd, reacts to the 6-1 win against Chalvey Sports in the Quarter Finals of the Ascot & District Fielden Cup on Saturday.
Looking back on the Showcase Match win, Chetwynd said “The first 20 minutes or so was pretty much dominated by Chalvey, they had some great chances and luckily for us they couldn’t put them away.
“We changed a few things in midfield and got a little bit closer to a couple of their players who were dominating the game, and after that it was pretty much one-way traffic.
“We knew that we had pace in our team and we took advantage of that, and to be fair our first goal was an absolute cracker. Dylan cut inside onto his right foot and put it in the top corner from about 25-yards.
“After that, we settled into it. One of the young players that we brought in this year, Rashid Christian, hit the bar with a bicycle kick and the momentum turned our way.
“The third goal straight after half-time was really important because we knew that Chalvey would come out and throw everything they had at us. To get that third goal killed it off a little bit.”
The team manager added: “We were expecting a tough game on Saturday against decent Premier Division opposition. Britwell are fighting it out at the top of the league to win the title so we’re under no illusions that it will be a tough game [in the Semi Finals] but, if we put in a performance like we did on Saturday then we can give anyone a game and hopefully we will do.”
Chetwynd admits that not having a regular team out is the reason behind the side sitting third bottom in EBFL Division One this season but, he is still aiming for a top four finish.
And, he hopes that players being available more often will give them a fighting chance of reaching a Cup final and enjoying their day in the sun, much like the Old Windsor first team did twice last season.
He explained: “To be honest, we’ve not had a great season compared to where we thought we were going to be but that’s a reflection on not having a consistent team every week.
PICTURE: Old Windsor Reserves players and spectators were all smiles after thrashing Chalvey Sports 6-1 on Saturday night. PHOTO: Gary House.
“A couple of weeks ago we had a 4-4 draw against a team in the Presidents Cup (AFC Reading), we won that on penalties and it has been the turning point for our season.
“We know that FC Baylis are a really good and solid Division One team and we put in a really good performance against them to get a point last week, so we’ve used that penalties win to kick on.
“It has been frustrating because now that we’ve got a little bit of form together we’re finding that people are back available. Once we have got our full squad out we’ve got a really good team, and that showed on Saturday.
“I hope that the win on Saturday shows that once we get a consistent team out, once we get the same people there every week, we’ve got a really good squad.
“We know that we’ve got a lot of work to do in the league because our league position is definitely not where we want it to be. But, that being said, we’ve got two cup Semi Finals so hopefully that will be the catalyst to get everyone involved, push forward, and hopefully get ourselves into a final.
PHOTO: The opening goal, scored by Dylan Harbridge (18) beats the Chalvey Sports keeper and flies into the top corner of the goal. PICTURE: Gary House.
“We definitely don’t want to be third from bottom, where we are at the moment, that’s not a reflection of the team that we’ve got. We should be doing better. If we could push up and finish fourth or something like that, it would be a good season for us.”
Looking ahead to the Presidents Cup and a match against Frontline Reserves for a place in the Final, Chetwynd said: “We’ve had many tough games against Frontline Reserves over the years. Fortunately for some of our older players it will not be played on a 3-G pitch, which doesn’t necessarily benefit my knees anyway!
“We’re confident and hopefully we will get a good team out, and I’m sure frontline will be thinking the same thing, that it’s a great chance to get into a Final.
“A lot of these guys in the Reserve team naturally weren’t involved in the finals that we were in (first team) last season. Those guys have been spectators in the finals that we made but they have seen how much enjoyment the other guys got out of it, so it’s a big opportunity for them to play in front of a big crowd.
“We know that if we make it through to a final they will be a good few hundred people there, so it’s an opportunity to play front of a big crowd and on a good pitch, and we will go from there.”
To enter the East Berkshire Football League ahead of the 2023/24 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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