Bacup Borough win the Edward Case Cup!
Wed 8th May 2024 | The Edward Case Cup | By Jay Cooper
Bacup Borough have won the Edward Case Cup once again after beating Euxton Villa 2-1 in a fiery game at newly promoted Wythenshawe Town's Ericstan Park. This is the second year in a row that they've won the competition, after they defeated Ellesmere Rangers 2-0 in last season's final.
In a first half that saw Brent Peters' men largely play counter attacking football and stay rigid when their opponents got forward, they took the lead on the half-hour mark through an excellent Lewis Simon-Byrne free kick, which found the far left corner from the right side of the edge of the penalty area. Right after the second half began, they doubled their lead through Malachi Clarke, and held onto that 2-0 advantage right up until the referee signalled for 7 added minutes at the end of the match.
Euxton Villa then grabbed one back thanks to Rajwinder Uppal, before a small melee ensured when Bacup players refused to give the ball back to their opponents and tried to delay the restart. Players from both sides had to be separated from one another, and a straight red card was given to Bacup goalkeeper Mason Walker.
For the remaining minutes of the game, substitute Toby Wright was tasked with keeping Euxton Villa out, and despite their opponents' best efforts, Bacup held on to their lead to take home the trophy.
After the game, Bacup manager Brent Peters offered his thoughts on his sides' victory. "I thought, from the off, we had a game plan. Our game plan was all about us and what we needed to do, and not about Euxton Villa - as long as we implemented what we had to do, we knew that, if everybody was focused and disciplined, that we had enough in our armoury to win the game.
"I think we needed that third (goal), obviously, especially when they'd got one back. But ultimately, they've done me proud. This group has always been fantastic. I mean, that's three cup finals in 12 months, and we've won two.
“One thing I've always said about how I run Bacup, as a football club - everything that we do is geared towards what they do in the EFL, especially for a big occasion. We had our pre-match prep, we went to a hotel, and I probably did all my talking in the hotel, When we got to the ground, it was over to our coaches.
"For travel, we got a nice executive coach – we want to do it right! I think that, psychologically, it just gives you extra lift. And that's how it should be. The lads who've played under me previously know exactly how I conduct my team, and how we did it today.”
Speaking on the incident towards the end of the game that saw his goalkeeper dismissed, Brent said that, “it looked like there was just a little bit of handbags in general, and it was our number one that paid the price for it. To be perfect honest - I’ve got to say this - I thought the referee and the officials did really well today. I'm going to stand here and be perfectly honest when I say that.
“It was a bit of a rush of blood from the keeper. I think their player has gone in on him, maybe kicked him when he’s going after the ball - I don't know. But he (Walker) was obviously upset about that, and he's come out and he's laid a glove on him. And you can't do that.
"So, I knew that the inevitable was coming, and that we'd be down to 10 men. We always knew that Toby Wright, even though he's a striker, can go in goal if necessary, and he did alright whilst he was in goal for the end of the match.”
Despite this messy ending to the match, this cup retention now ranks alongside the many accomplishments that Brent Peters has acquired in his 25+ years at the helm at Bacup Borough.
Commiserations to runners-up Euxton Villa, and congratulations to Bacup Borough, and to all involved at the club on this achievement.
Image credit: Twitter, @nwcfl, 06/05/2024
Bacup Borough win the Edward Case Cup!
Wed 8th May 2024 | The Edward Case Cup
By Jay Cooper
Bacup Borough have won the Edward Case Cup once again after beating Euxton Villa 2-1 in a fiery game at newly promoted Wythenshawe Town's Ericstan Park. This is the second year in a row that they've won the competition, after they defeated Ellesmere Rangers 2-0 in last season's final.
In a first half that saw Brent Peters' men largely play counter attacking football and stay rigid when their opponents got forward, they took the lead on the half-hour mark through an excellent Lewis Simon-Byrne free kick, which found the far left corner from the right side of the edge of the penalty area. Right after the second half began, they doubled their lead through Malachi Clarke, and held onto that 2-0 advantage right up until the referee signalled for 7 added minutes at the end of the match.
Euxton Villa then grabbed one back thanks to Rajwinder Uppal, before a small melee ensured when Bacup players refused to give the ball back to their opponents and tried to delay the restart. Players from both sides had to be separated from one another, and a straight red card was given to Bacup goalkeeper Mason Walker.
For the remaining minutes of the game, substitute Toby Wright was tasked with keeping Euxton Villa out, and despite their opponents' best efforts, Bacup held on to their lead to take home the trophy.
After the game, Bacup manager Brent Peters offered his thoughts on his sides' victory. "I thought, from the off, we had a game plan. Our game plan was all about us and what we needed to do, and not about Euxton Villa - as long as we implemented what we had to do, we knew that, if everybody was focused and disciplined, that we had enough in our armoury to win the game.
"I think we needed that third (goal), obviously, especially when they'd got one back. But ultimately, they've done me proud. This group has always been fantastic. I mean, that's three cup finals in 12 months, and we've won two.
“One thing I've always said about how I run Bacup, as a football club - everything that we do is geared towards what they do in the EFL, especially for a big occasion. We had our pre-match prep, we went to a hotel, and I probably did all my talking in the hotel, When we got to the ground, it was over to our coaches.
"For travel, we got a nice executive coach – we want to do it right! I think that, psychologically, it just gives you extra lift. And that's how it should be. The lads who've played under me previously know exactly how I conduct my team, and how we did it today.”
Speaking on the incident towards the end of the game that saw his goalkeeper dismissed, Brent said that, “it looked like there was just a little bit of handbags in general, and it was our number one that paid the price for it. To be perfect honest - I’ve got to say this - I thought the referee and the officials did really well today. I'm going to stand here and be perfectly honest when I say that.
“It was a bit of a rush of blood from the keeper. I think their player has gone in on him, maybe kicked him when he’s going after the ball - I don't know. But he (Walker) was obviously upset about that, and he's come out and he's laid a glove on him. And you can't do that.
"So, I knew that the inevitable was coming, and that we'd be down to 10 men. We always knew that Toby Wright, even though he's a striker, can go in goal if necessary, and he did alright whilst he was in goal for the end of the match.”
Despite this messy ending to the match, this cup retention now ranks alongside the many accomplishments that Brent Peters has acquired in his 25+ years at the helm at Bacup Borough.
Commiserations to runners-up Euxton Villa, and congratulations to Bacup Borough, and to all involved at the club on this achievement.
Image credit: Twitter, @nwcfl, 06/05/2024
