After weeks of waiting, the day of our first National Cup Final had arrived. An early morning start began with our new kit, kindly donated by Old Wilsonians, laid out in the dressing room with food, energy drinks and a programme of our journey this season. Straight away it was clear this was a special day in the history of the school.
The bus journey was a typical one. It was quiet, lots of sleeping, some reading and even two online university lectures! The three and half hours flew by and we arrived at the never-ending iconic Lilleshall driveway.
As one of the day’s highlights, we were shown a video by Wells Productions filled with season footage and good luck messages from former pupils such as Conrad and Riley, current pupil Ire gave an inspirational speech and former Head Of Cricket Mr Bullen passed on words of wisdom. There was even a message from professional footballer Asmir Begovic! A giant roar from the whole bus at the end of the video was a moment a lot of us will not forget.
The pitch was, unfortunately for us, perfect and after the normal warm up we were ready to begin the biggest game in the school’s history. No doubt to Mr Wells’ horror, after him mentioning the importance of the first twenty minutes for the previous month, we got off to the worst possible start conceding two within the first ten minutes.
A back-post volley by Repton’s CF from a corner made it 1-0. More heartbreak followed soon after, with Repton making it 2-0. A powerful header resulted in a great save by Ellis but the rebound was bundled in.
It was clear Repton were the more experienced side, this being their third final in a row, and we just had to stay in the game the best we could. We did that for the rest of the half. The midfield three of Richard, Yorke, and Tom (H) started to win the midfield battle and captain Josh also started to win the aerial battles to allow us to go forward.
Tom (H) had a free kick opportunity which he has scored from many times to rescue past games, but his attempt struck the wall. We put it down to him being exhausted after trying to chase Repton’s number 10 who was very impressive!
Our first chance came after twenty minutes when Taalib made a great challenge on the half way line and a glorious ball from Yusuf to Guy who narrowly headed wide. Two more half chances fell to Yorke and Rich, but we went in at half time 2-0 down. At half time we were disappointed with our start, but this team never gives in and showed true Wilsonian spirit and courage to stay in the game.
The second half was much the same, with Repton having the majority of the ball and us trying to patiently wait for that chance. Callum who the commentator described as a ‘promising young defender’ started to step forward and win tackles while full backs Tae and Tom started to get a grip with their tricky opponents. It is fair to say they will be happy to never see those Repton forward’s again!
Subs were made with Luca and Dmitri giving the side fresh impetus. Our best chance second half fell to Dmitri who unfortunately did his usual windmill shot failing to connect.
Time was ticking away and despite the constant probing by Kwesi and Seyon we could not break Repton’s back four. Then with a few minutes remaining the game was over, with us pushing forward, Repton broke and made it 3-0.
The final whistle came, and our season was finished sixteen months after it had started. The disappointment was instant. There was a feeling of if only we could have played this game in March when we were more ready and the realisation that our success is built upon training together, something we haven’t been able to do with much of the squad leaving for university. The disappointment did subside for a moment however when we found out Ellis had won the player of the match. His online fan club had done their job and he got what he fully deserved.
The saddest realisation came from the fact it was the last game for some Wilson’s football ‘legends’. The five of Josh, Callum, Luca, Rich, and Yorke will be missed. Not to mention Ademola and Nathan who would have made a huge difference on the day. The seven of them will go down as the school’s first ever national finalists.
Great credit must be given to Repton; they were worthy winners and one of if not the most impressive school teams many of us have faced.
We would like to say a big thank you for all those that made our day so special including the school, teachers, the support from all family and friends and Old Wilsonian’s.
This is the end of our incredible season, one no one expected and one we will never forget. But there is a quiet determination from the boys that are still in school that this is just the start. We will try everything we can to get there again and be as our team motto says, ‘anything but ordinary’.
