ON a perfect Saturday night Harpenden Rovers took on Hemel Rovers in the Apsley Senior Cup. Harpenden dominated for the first 20 minutes creating several chances which included a solo run from Ollie Wedd

Apsley Senior Cup

Harpenden Rovers 2 Hemel Rovers 1

ON a perfect Saturday night Harpenden Rovers took on Hemel Rovers in the Apsley Senior Cup.

Harpenden dominated for the first 20 minutes creating several chances which included a solo run from Ollie Wedd who fired over and a header against the cross bar from Graham Golds.

Against the run of play Hemel broke and opened the scoring but manager Jim Nicholls saw his Harpenden side respond superbly. A through ball from the outstanding Graham Golds put through Gareth Devoti who beat two men and squared it back for Ally Watson who blasted home from a couple of yards.

The real turning point came two minutes later when Hemel were reduced to 10-men having a centre back dismissed for a foul tackle.

The second half saw Hemel really up the tempo but the 10-men could not penetrate a solid Harps defence of Andy Palmer, Steve Jones and James Izzard.

With Hemel tiring, Harpenden regained control and Ally Watson and Matt Chugg went close before the final drama. With just seconds to go and extra time looming Wedd supplied a defence splitting pass to Devoti who raced through and slid home the winner.

Ollie Wedd received the Apsley Senior Man of the Match award, awarded by an independent panel. Manager Jim Nicholls was delighted with the win and said: "We deserved to win and to win the cup double was a result of all the hard work of the club and squad and not just the 11 players that started."

Harpenden Rovers: Elliot Thomas, Andy Palmer, Steve Jones, James Izzard (Matt Chugg 65), Ollie Poole, Wayne Carberry (Phil Lythgoe 78), Haydn Williams, Ollie Wedd, Ally Watson, Graham Golds, Gareth Devoti. Subs unused: Andy Lee, Neal Rawlinson, Steve Fox.