COUPLAND HAT TRICK SENDS WELTON INTO LAST 16!

Welton Sports & Socials new look centre forward Scott Coupland was the catalyst behind Weltons passage through to the last 16 of the Lincolnshire County Cup. Three goals from Coupland, a brace from captain Stocks and a first ever goal for the club from the recalled Craig Cosgrove was enough to ensure Weltons name would be in the hat come the draw for the next round. Welton did not have it all their own way however as a resilient Cranwell took the lead on three different occasions.

Welton arrived in the picturesque village of Cranwell, 2 miles North of Sleaford set for an earlier than usual 10.30 kick off. Any hopes of starting on time were quickly dashed as the Cranwell pitch was frozen and the referee wanted a pitch inspection at 10.15. To the delight of the Welton players and fans who had made the trip the pitch was deemed fit to play on.

Welton continued with Ossai in goal, protected by the usual back three of Carter, Dhindsa and Taylor. Cosgrove returned to the squad and starting on the left hand side of midfield replacing Sutton who was ruled out due to work commitments. Sam Gordon, sporting a new hairdo lined up on the right, with Tom and Craig Wilkinson joining captain Stocks in the centre of midfield. The ‘in form’ James Drabble partnered Scott Coupland who had also taken a trip to the barbers last week.

The visitors approached the game in a confident fashion and were looking to return to winning ways. Although it would be easier said than done with a hard, bobbly frozen pitch which made passing difficult for Welton. Cranwell are no mugs and are unbeaten at home in the last 2 seasons.

It was the hosts who took the lead in spectacular fashion. A defensive error saw the ball fall to Cranwells left winger and with Ossai stranded he samashed an unstoppable stike into the top corner from all of 50 yards, defiantely a goal of the season contender. This goal spurred on the home side who were battling for everything and making it hard for Welton to play football. Welton soon got back into the groove and the equaliser wasn’t long in coming, some good passing saw the ball fall to Cosgrove 10 yards out and he coolly slotted home to bring the scores level.

Cranwell urged on by a vocal home crowd continued to press and were looking dangerous when in attack. Cranwell soon retook the lead, a needless free kick was given away just inside the Cranwell half and the freekick went directly onto the head of the Cranwell striker who headed home from the edge of the area leaving Ossai with no chance. Welton were dominating in possession and throwing everything at the home side, Gordon in particular was causing problems with his excellent crosses from the right hand side. Cranwell had to thank their keeper for keeping them in the game with a number of super saves, the pick of them came from a Coupland header yards out leaving the keeper to perform a superb reaction save.

HALF TIME 2 – 1

Welton began the second half with real purpose and pulled level for the second time minutes after half time. A perfect through ball from Gordon was latched onto by Coupland and when he is one on one with a keeper he rarely misses, and he sent a neat finish into the far corner. Welton continued to attack and Tom Wilkinson burst through and was denied by a smart save from the keeper. Against the run of play Cranwell retook the lead, the ball was bobbling around the Welton area and fell to the Cranwell stiker who smashed home much to the delight of the home supporters.

Once again Welton showed their resilience and parity was restored. An excellent through ball from Craig Wilkinson was once again latched onto by Coupland who once again finished neatly past the home keeper. This time Welton were able to prevent Cranwell from retaking the lead for the fourth time and it was the visitors who went ahead for the first time in the match. Coupland again was involved when he lifted the ball over the onrushing keeper and was cruelly brought down for a penalty. How the keeper managed to stay on the pitch was a mystery to all. After being hurt in the collision Coupland picked himself up and slotted the ball into the corner out of the reach of the fortunate keeper.

With 15 minutes remaining Big Al replaced forward Drabble with Begag, and Cosgrove was replaced by Warman. Welton were not finished there and added two further goals to put the game out of sight for Cranwell. Both goals came from excellent Gordon corners and were both headed home by captain Stocks leaving the keeper with little chance. A rare Stocks brace sealed the win and sent Welton into the last 16 of the Lincolnshire County Cup. The draw is due to take place today and at this stage of the tournament there will be no easy games.


PLAYER RATINGS

Ossai 7, No chance with goals, handled well
Carter 7, did a job
Taylor 7, got stuck in
Dhindsa 7, steady performance
Gordon 8, excellent delivery, 4 assists
Cosgrove 7, decent performance, opened his account in a Welton shirt
Stocks 8, a rare brace from the skipper
T.Wilkinson 8 ran all day and worked hard, unlucky not to score
C.Wilkinson 7, battled hard, was quiet in second half
Coupland 9, hat trick hero
Drabble 6, no longer ‘In form’

Subs
Begag - 6 - unlucky not to score
Warman - 6 little time to make impact

Dream Team star man

S Coupland - 17points, 3goals = 12, 90mins = 2, bonus = 3

CAN WE HAVE YOU
To be fair not one of the Cranwell players would get in our team, but the lad who scored there opening goal was the pick of the bunch.

YOUR NOT VERY GOOD
The facilities, no showers is very poor and despite a decent clubhouse no food was provided which didn’t go down well with the players.