11th October - The Metropolitan 0-1 Winkfield Saracens (Senior Cup) - Match Report

Goal: Mark Brown

Solid defensive display takes Saracens through to the next round as Saracens start their defence of the Bracknell Town & District Sunday F.L Senior Cup (4 years after winning it).

The Metropolitan were forced to move the whole pitch over 5 yards to ensure the injured player from last week could remain in his sunbed style position on the field and also to make sure nobody trod in the local dog walkers poo (or was it his dog's poo, the story has changed so much!).

Saracens made a few changes to the line up but decided to stick with their 4-3-3 formation that looked promising for 15 minutes the week before. With Enright and McGuire awol, Cahill and Davis stepped into the back line.

Carswell was again injured so Herman was recalled to the three pronged attack with Sharp and Whitty.

Saracens took a bit of time to get going and often the whistle stopped the progress of both teams and Cahill talked himself into the book, again. However it was Cahill's quick freekick midway through the first half to Whitty that created the goal.

The bulky forward turned nimbly on the edge of The Met's penalty area and fed the ball through into the path of "Skid Mark" Brown. Saracens top-scorer made no mistake from 15 yards with a low drive through the keepers legs. 0-1.

Saracens continued to press as they got used to their new formation but failed to add to their lead. Sharp worked his way into a couple of shooting positions but failing to hit the target and Herman couldn't find his touch at vital moments.

The Metropolitan had little to offer all game. Long balls were continually headed away by Davis and Phipps and Sharp tackled any forward runs from out wide.

Thankfully Bennison didn't have a save to make all game although there was a scare when a long freekick was found the bottom corner, however the goalkeeper was clearly obstructed by the home forward.

Taff, Brown and Jon Callaway worked hard for the 90 minutes closing down players and putting in challenges. Chris Callaway came on for the last 15 minutes and ran/limped about like a headless chicken, or some other type of injured animal as Saracens saw out the result.

Manager Scott Bennison was happy with the win. "It wasn't always pretty, but a win is a win in the cup. I'll take 1-0 in every cup match," said Bennison.

Fans were buoyed by the win and memories of previous cup glory and were heard to be chanting "We're going to Wembley" as the team bus left the ground.

Saracens: Bennison, Sharp, Davis, Cahill, Phipps, Taff, Brown, J Callaway, Sharp (c), Whitty, Herman (C Callaway).