- Written by Lenny Bernstein (manager, Wandsworth Rovers)
The Social FA Cup once again proved this season why the competition is the most highly revered and respected cup competition in the Social FA. With cup upsets, penalty shoot-out drama and it's fair share of goals, it had all the ingredients of a classic cup. Well, until the final that is, which provided possibly the most boring 120 minutes of football that the Social FA has ever seen.
The matches in the first round went mostly according to form, although IMT Fairground came very close to knocking out eventual finalists Made in Beverly Drive, taking the Drive into extra-time in what was undoubtedly the match of the round, a 5-3 classic.
The second round also caused no major surprises, although it took an injury time goal from Neymar to seal Premiership side's Real Villains 2-1 victory over Championship new boys.
The last sixteen saw the first of the favourites knocked out - a very good Honka side beat Premiership champions Relegation Fodder 1-0. And both Made in Beverly Drive and Wandsworth Rovers warmed up for their eventual cup final shoot-out by beating Nottingham Arna and Polish Forest respectively on penalties after the ties were 1-1 after extra-time.
The quarter-finals saw another upset. In what was the match of the competition, Made in Beverly Drive came back from 2-0 down away from home against 4ytry to take the game to extra-time. The Drive looked dead and buried when Rudy Ahamada scored in the 12th minute of extra-time to reclaim the lead for 4ytry, but a last gasp goal from Medo pulled the score back to 3-3 and the Drive then sealed their upset by winning through on penalties for the second time in the compeition.
The first of the semi-finals saw Wandsworth Rovers upset London Town, once again winning through on penalties after holding the Town to a 2-2 draw, despite being out-played for most of the game. The Drive earned themselves the title of Penalty Kings when they beat Simons Staffy Bull Rovers in their third shoot-out in a row after a 1-1 draw in a game that was low on chances.
And so to the final. Perhaps predicting the boredom that was to ensue, only 7,016 fans turned up to watch one of the FA's biggest games of season. Those SFA managers who came along to spectate actually fell asleep in a turgid 0-0 draw that disappointed fans and neutrals alike. However, those that managed to stay awake/not leave/stay alive were rewarded with a fantastic penalty shoot-out, with both sides showing why they had been so lethal from the spot in previous rounds. Each side was clinical with their first five penalties before 'safe hands' Wayne Hennessey saved from Kim Heung-Keun, a cruel blow for the South Korean who otherwise had made such a great impression at the Drive since his £900,000 mid-season transfer from Mampa Miners.
The surprise top goalscorer of the tournament was 4ytry's DC
Gérson, who scored an impressive 5 goals from 4 matches, which also earned him the Player of the Tournament award with a excellent 8.03 average rating. A spccial mention must also go to Honka's Gabriel Obertan who was man of the match in both his sides two matches.
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