Our Under 23s suffered a very unlucky loss (1-2) in the Mike Bidmead Challenge Cup Final (the Suburban League Cup) against Hungerford Town U23s at Slough Town on Tuesday 13 May.
Increasingly the stronger team in the first half, Tooting’s dominance was finally rewarded when Alex Cruickshank beat a Hungerford defender to a through ball to give Tooting the lead after 44 minutes. The lead was very short lived with the referee giving Hungerford a very soft penalty in Hungerford’s next attack despite the Tooting player appearing to making a tackle which had sent the ball out for a corner.
During the second half Tooting created a number chances even when down to 10 and then 9 men as the referee made a number of harsh decisions which did not go our way. Hungerford sealed victory with almost their only meaningful shot on target on 81 minutes.
A tough one to take for the young terrors but it was just not their night.
Congratulations to all the players and coaching staff for their successes during the season. Second in the league and League Cup finalists is something to be really proud of.
