HFA County Cups Finals 2022
Eight HFA County Cup finals have been held over recent weeks to celebrate and draw a close to the 2021-22 football season.
The first of this year’s final was the Barrington Print HFA Giantkillers Cup, Kidderminster Harriers U18s facing Gloucester City U18s at Edgar Street. In what was a well contested match against two sides that have taken points off each other during their league campaign it was Kidderminster that produced the quality on the night to retain the title, seeing off their opposition 3-0 and once again receive the trophy from 1972 FA Cup legend Colin Addison.
Mid-April saw the Your Herefordshire HFA Youth Cup played out by local rivals Lads Club U16s and Westfields U16s. The future talent of Herefordshire put on a fine display at the SSAFA County Ground with Westfields coming out on top with a 4-1 victory, securing a league and cup double.
Edgar Street took centre stage once again for the Barrington Print HFA County Challenge Cup as Hereford FC took on Hartpury University. In an exciting competition involving all the regional teams in the area it was County League winners Hartpury that stood in the way of Hereford FC. A brilliant game of football watched by a crowd of over 450 saw Hereford provide a lot of the early pressure and take a 1-0 advantage going into half time. However, the second half was a different story as Hartpury showed their potential and grew into the match, two late goals gave them the win as they lifted the historic trophy for the first time. After winning the HFA County Challenge Cup Hartpury University have now earned the chance to compete for the HFA Senior Cup where they will face Forest Green Rovers on Wednesday 6th July.
As the finals kept coming it was the turn of the women as Westfields Women faced Pegasus Ladies at Edgar Street. In a show of dominance, the experienced current holders Pegasus, ran out 8-0 winners against a young Westfields team, with Roxy Dinescu grabbing a hat trick along the way to complete a fantastic personal season with over 40 goals.
The brand-new HFA U14 Girls County Cup saw Tupsley Girls face Ross Juniors in the final on Friday 6th May. With the continual growth of girl’s football locally it was pleasing to watch two sides play with such passion and skill. Ross Juniors won the competitive match 3-1 to be the first names on the trophy.
A large crowd gathered on the SSAFA County Ground on a Wednesday evening in May to watch a very competitive Infinity Care Consultancy HFA Charity Bowl final between Ledbury Town Firsts and Pegasus Reserves. With the two sides finishing second and third respectively in the league it was sure to be a hard to call match. The score was 1-1 midway though the second half before Pegasus managed to grab the advantage and eventually ran out 3-1 winners.
Tupsley Girls and Ross Juniors met once again a week after the U14 Cup final, however this time it was the turn of the U16 sides to face off in the final. The match started frantically with opportunities at either end before Ross managed to take a lead into half time. Tupsley grew into the second half and came back into the match but despite their late goals Ross held out to ensure the club had ownership of both the girls County Cups.
The season finally finished off with the Bluefin Sport HFA Junior Cup final on a bright sunny May day. Two men’s County league sides, Worcester United Firsts and Ross Juniors Firsts battled out an exciting, action packed match, both sides had high expectations having already fought it out at the top of the league table this season and although it was Worcester United that was successful in the league, Ross Juniors produced a winning display to claim the cup with a brilliantly played out 7-4 score line.
The Herefordshire FA want to thank all teams for their involvement in this season’s competitions. There have been many thrilling matches along the way to the finals, its your efforts throughout the year that make the competitions what they are!
The Herefordshire FA would also like to give a special mention to the many volunteers and supporters of the County Cups without whom it would be a lot more difficult for such events to take place. Thank you to members of the HFA Board and Council for providing their time to help organise and run the finals. Thank you to Hereford FC for use of their pitch and for their brilliant hospitality as they hosted three of our senior competitions. Thank you to Lads Club for their support with all finals at the County Ground. Thank you and a big well done to all our match officials for your time and effort throughout the season and thank you to our sponsors of the HFA County Cups, Barrington Print, Infinity Care Consultancy, Bluefin Sport and Your Herefordshire.
We look forward to doing it all again in 2022-23.
Credit Photographs: Will Cheshire
