Sarries give Foley the fairytale farewell with Severn Sport Cup win over Shortwood United
Departing Cheltenham Saracens U18s boss Beckem Foley was given the perfect send off by his side, as they lifted the Severn Sport Cup after a 4-2 win over Shortwood United, on Thursday night.
290 spectators arrived at Kayte Lane to see if the serial cup finalists, Sarries, could end Foley’s tenure in charge with another memorable night – whilst Shortwood were looking to spoil the party.
Two goals each for captain Henry Miles and Severn Sport’s choice for Man of the Match, Brad Roberts, helped fire Sarries to glory – although Shortwood made them work for it.
Foley’s side went ahead inside nine minutes, when Roberts controlled the ball on the edge of the box before firing past Roan Young in the Wood goal.
Prior to that, Young had made two smart stops to keep out Marley Holmes.
Shortwood were only behind for seven minutes and after Mak Sujeewon had their first effort saved by Corey Iddon, they would score with their next attack.
The ball came out to Warren Thomas wide on the left and he snuck an effort in at Iddon’s near post to restore parity.
Jay Wells went close to restoring Sarries’ lead, but headed over from a corner – however moments later a glorious through ball saw Miles beat the offside trap to lob the on-rushing Young.
The game looked beyond Shortwood on 33 minutes when a neat passing move from Saracens resulted in Miles sliding home his second of proceedings.
Young kept his side in the contest right on half time, producing a stunning close range save to deny Roberts what would have been a lovely second goal, after he controlled a ball forward and cut inside in the box.
The second half started with more Sarries pressure, with Holmes gambling on a pass back to Young, but only just poking wide as he got there ahead of the keeper.
Roberts fizzed in a long range free kick, which Young dealt with well enough, before Holmes fired wide soon after.
Saracens defender Josh Parker was taken off with a suspected broken wrist, after going over in a challenge on half way, before Holmes sent an effort flying over after cutting in from the right hand side.
Shortwood made changes either side of half time and one of them, Sean Mudway, reduced arrears to set up a grand stand final 20 minutes.
After taking the ball into his stride, Mudway drilled an effort past Iddon and suddenly it was game on.
And moments later, Shortwood were convinced they should have been given a penalty, after Thomas appeared to be pulled down in the box.
Five minutes later, the contest was over as Roberts was slipped in one on one and he never looked like missing, firing past Young.
Ollie Fisher got forward for Wood as they went in search of a route back into the game, but his effort was flashed across the box without an attacking getting a foot on it.
With that, Sarries were able to see the game out comfortably enough to cap off a memorable four seasons in charge for Foley, who leaves the club to pursue opportunities in Men’s football.
Cheltenham Saracens U18s: Iddon, Parker, Horrocks, Stokes, Rose, Wells, Holmes, Berrow, B Roberts, Miles, Williams
Subs: Voyce, Ricketts, Frew, Soule, J Roberts
Shortwood United U18s: Young, Fisher, Marshfield, Cunningham-Sturmey, Noblet, Elliott, Freer, Anderson, Sujeewon, Thomas, Seward
Subs: Dunn, Newman, Rand, Franklin, Mudway
C Martin Roofing Man of the Match – Bradley Roberts (Cheltenham Saracens U18s)
NOMINATE: Submit your nominations for the Severn Sport End of Season Awards 2025 HERE
READ MORE: Check out the list of fixtures in and around Gloucestershire on Saturday right here
READ MORE: Check out the list of Women’s fixtures in and around Gloucestershire on Sunday right here
