Fairfield lift the Junior Cup North

Match Report: Fairfield North 3-1 Blazing Rag 2000

Danny Hughes
Fairfield North reigned victorious over Blazing Rag 2000 in the DCFA Junior Cup North Final on Wednesday night.

Fairfield North reigned victorious over Blazing Rag 2000 in the DCFA Junior Cup North Final on Wednesday night.

The match, which was played at Shirebrook Town, finished 3-1, and it was Fairfield North lifting the trophy at the end of the evening.

Blazing Rag got the contest underway and both teams looked to make their mark on the game, but after the first ten minutes neither team had created any real chances.

After 15 minutes, Blazing Rag’s Peter Richardson was fed through on goal, but Fairfield keeper Luke Betts made himself big and tipped the attempt over the bar.

Just minutes later Blazing Rag captain Ben Barnwell created a chance for Rick Carr, but once again Betts saved well.

It was in the 17th minute that Blazing Rag were able to break the deadlock when a well-delivered corner was headed in from close range by Tim Blackwell.

After Blazing Rag took the lead, Fairfield had a few speculative efforts but struggled to trouble Blazing Rag goalkeeper Joe Steeples, however, with just seconds left of the first-half, they were able to force a counter-attack, and Jamie Prince got on the end of a cross to slot it home from just yards out, with the last kick of the first 45.

Fairfield came out of the blocks well in the second half, pressuring Blazing Rag and even hitting the bar with a spectacular strike by Tallis Stone, but the score remained 1-1.

However, Fairfield’s pressure did eventually pay off,  and it was on the hour mark when Carl Henshaw’s cheeky flick fell into the path of Jonny Thorpe, who volleyed it wonderfully into the bottom-right corner.

Tension was building in the stadium, but with 10 minutes of the match remaining, Fairfield were able to put the final nail in the coffin, as Jonny Thorpe’s cross was met once again by Tallis Stone, who scored his second of the game, and secured the DCFA Junior Cup North trophy for his side.