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PICTURE: Frontline Reserves lifted the Slough Town Junior Cup after a 2-0 win against FC Deportivo Galicia Reserves at Burnham FC on Wednesday night. PHOTOS: Gary House Photography
Frontline Chairman, Imran Bhatti, hailed his young stars as ‘absolutely unbelievable’ after the Reserve side lifted the Slough Town Junior Cup on Wednesday night.
The emergence of teenage talent at the club, backed by magnificent support under the lights at Burnham FC, saw Frontline beat FC Deportivo Galacia Reserves, 2-0.
Both goals came in the first half from stand-in captain Amir Khan and, one of the rising stars, 18-year-old, Kacper Kloc.
The win was the perfect tonic for East Berkshire League member clubs following the very sad news earlier that day that League Chairman, Robin Woolman, had passed away on Tuesday night. And Bhatti dedicated the success to Robin, a true Legend of football in the Thames Valley area.
Bhatti said: “Our supporters were magnificent. The opposition supporters were great but, ours were magnificent, unbelievable. There must have been at least 150 of them there. The atmosphere that they created urged the team on to do better and better.
“The performance from our boys was unbelievable. Every single one of them played their hearts out to give 110 per-cent and, when we heard the final whistle, we were over the moon for the achievement of the youngsters.
“We have four teenagers in the team and it was absolutely unbelievable and amazing to see them achieve this in their first year in adult football. It was brilliant to get some silverware as a club after a very troublesome season.
“Frontline, as a club, dedicate this win to Robin, may he rest in peace.
“And we look forward to the competition next year when we can defend the title.”
Looking back on the match, Bhatti said: “The evening started in a pretty bad way for us because our skipper pulled out with an injury and we had two others unable to start through illness, a central midfielder and a striker.
“And then we had the sad news about Robin, so it was going to be a tough day.
“The boys, nonetheless, got together and we made sure we put in a very good warm-up of about 40 minutes, which is the first time we’ve done that this season and it paid dividends.
PHOTO: Frontline Reserves star Kacper Kloc celebrates after opening the scoring in the 2-0 Cup final win.
“We made sure that we stuck to our game plan which was to press quickly and in numbers. In doing that, Deportivo made mistakes and allowed our midfielders to capitalise on the game.
“I’m a strong believer in the idea that it’s not goals that win you matches but the midfielders. If the midfield players can do their jobs and dictate the game, then the match is always going to be won.
“That’s what our boys did. Our trio were magnificent. The first one in there was our stand-in skipper and man-of-the-match, Amir, who had the game of his life.
“Kacper, only 18, dictated the game. He’s an immensely talented youngster. He scored our first goal with a superb strike into the bottom corner, and then delivered a superb free-kick which Amir got on the end of to make it two-nil.”
He added: “The opposition had their chances, they should’ve scored before half time and were also forced into making a couple of changes through injury in the first half.
“Our half-time talk was based around us being on top in the game and that the opposition didn’t have anything on us. If we kept on dictating, and kept our passing on key, the game would be ours.
“Our keeper pulled off a couple of stunning saves in the second half and the opposition missed an open goal but, we could’ve scored another two or three.”
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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