On a warm spring afternoon at the Testwood Stadium, home of AFC Totton, The Sixth Form College Farnborough and Brockenhurst College battled it out for the Peter Munro Cup. Having comfortably beaten both Andover and QMC in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively, Farnborough looked in good shape to compete against a very big and physical opposition.

Upon arriving at the ground, the team seemed focused yet relaxed and after a thorough warm up they were raring to go. The team lined up as follows;

Harry Warner; Sam Henneberg, Jack Cox, Rob Colfer, Ryan Davey; Oli Macallan, Alex Merrifield; Dany Muyambi, Louie Paget, Ryan McCartney; Sam Pedersen. Substitutes were Cam Smith, Josh Pound, Bijen Gurung, Ed Mahoney and Liam Whyte.

As the starting whistle was blown, the opening exchanges of the game were scrappy to say the least. Neither team could get a hold of possession and a lot of long ball tactics were deployed in the first 10 minutes in order for both teams to try and get a foothold in the game by scoring an early goal. Our first chance came shortly after this passage when Louie Paget, one of the more creative players in the first half, shifted the ball wide to Dan Muyambi, who played it outside to the overlapping Sam Henneberg. A good ball was then fired across the goal area but the Brockenhurst keeper did well to smother it in front of an onrushing Sam Pedersen.

Moments later a lapse in concentration from the Farnborough defence allowed the Brockenhurst right midfielder to make a deep cross which the striker headed back down into the middle of the box allowing his strike partner to slice into the bottom corner of the goal. 1-0 Brockenhurst.

Farnborough then asserted themselves on the game and started to dominate possession. A pinpoint diagonal ball played by Oli Macallan to Ryan McCartney was taken down beautifully by the left winger but the stubborn Brockenhurst defence cleared the ball behind. From the resulting corner a superb whipped ball was put in by Muyambi that Rob Colfer so nearly got on the end of. For all the good play from Farnborough it was approaching half time and despite the best efforts of Merrifield and Macallan in central midfield no more chances were created before the interval.

At half-time, the coaches Alan Reed and James Thomas identified that the defensive unit was too deep and emphasised that more pressure should be applied in the Brockenhurst half, a defining feature of our play all season. Strong words of encouragement were given by Captain Jack Cox, and the experienced Sam Pedersen and Ryan Davey, to motivate the team to turn this game around and win the cup for the first time in nearly 40 years.

As soon as the second half kicked off, Farnborough looked like a different team. Higher pressure, stronger tackles and louder communication across the pitch allowed them to gain the upper hand in the contest. The impressive Macallan and Paget started to see more possession in attacking positions as Farnborough won the ball higher up the pitch and began to create chances at will. Ed Mahoney was introduced to the action for Ryan McCartney on the left wing, allowing Ryan Davey more room to roam forwards from left back and become involved in the attacking third. Approaching the 65th minute mark, Brockenhurst changed their formation to 5 defenders in order to cope with the attacking threat from Farnborough. This prompted coach Thomas to squeeze both Mahoney and Muyambi higher up to pin Brockenhurst back and give space to other players on the pitch. Another change was made, as Liam Whyte, returning from injury to play in this game, replaced Alex Merrifield in order to freshen up the centre of midfield.

With 78 minutes gone and still no equaliser, Brockenhurst seemed to be getting a bit complacent and started to play the ball around deep inside their own half. When they passed the ball into one of their central midfielders, Whyte delivered a crunching tackle that allowed Paget to pick up the loose ball. He then laid it into Pedersen, who held off the Brockenhurst centre back, took a touch around him and fired across the goalkeeper from the right side of the box to equalise for Farnborough. 1-1.

Another change was made due to injury, Macallan was brought off and Bijen Gurung was put onto the left wing with Mahoney moving central. As we edged towards the end of the match Brockenhurst were pinned back deep in their box and it seemed as though we would be heading into extra time. Only some miraculous play would be able to break down this resilient Brockenhurst defence now.

It was one minute into stoppage time when again, Whyte dispossessed the Brockenhurst central midfielder and laid the ball off to Paget. A set back to Mahoney was then exquisitely played first time out wide to Muyambi, who managed to beat the defender and fire a ball across the area. Pedersen received the ball, took a touch inside the 6 yard box and fired into the bottom corner of the Brockenhurst net for his second of the match.

With Farnborough 2-1 ahead with only four minutes of stoppage time left to play it was time to batten down the hatches. Two defenders in Cam Smith and Josh Pound replaced two more attacking players in Muyambi and Pedersen. Farnborough managed to hold out for the nervy last few moments and as the final whistle sounded, the jubilant celebrations began.

This deserved piece of success capped an impressive year in which we also reached the quarter final of the ESFA National Cup. This was a great day in the history of football for the Sixth Form College and we hope to emulate this success in years to come.

MVP: Oli Macallan

Goal Scorer(s): Sam Pederson (x2)

Assist(s): Louie Paget, Dan Muyambi