Wells made the short journey up the A37 to take on high flying Clutton in the quarter finals of the Somerset Senior Cup. On paper, this probably looked like an easy home win, with the home team sitting 3rd in the Somerset County Premier Division and Wells mid table in the Second Division, but the form book was turned on its head with an excellent and gritty performance by Wells.
Clutton started the game the brighter and within a minute had hit the upright with a fierce strike from the home sides No10. On 12 minutes following good work from Clutton down the left flank, the winger cut inside and hit a rasping shot which Mike Roper did well to parry over the bar. 2 minutes later the Clutton keeper dropped the ball at the feet of Darren Maynard when attempting to throw the ball out but the strikers chip went wide of the stranded keeper. Wells now started to create chances and a free kick from Olly Edwards forced the home keeper into a save. On 19 minutes a deep cross into the Wells box seemed to elude the whole defence and a Clutton player coming in at the far post squared the ball back for a tap in by the Clutton No7 Blue O’Connor to make it 1-0. This just spurred Wells on and they began to create chances with Maynard and Edwards terrorising the Clutton defence. On 30 minutes Maynard picked up a ball wide on the left and cut inside into the box only to be upended by the Clutton No5, who was shown a yellow card for his challenge. Dan Catley stepped up and calmly despatched the spot kick low to the keepers left to make it 1-1. The Wells back four of Joe Grant, Liam Chant, Martyn Sheppard and James Russell dealt with the attacking three admirably, Martyn Sheppard in particular having a personal battle with the Clutton No9 which the defender came out on top in. On 39 minutes another precise through ball to Maynard saw him take the ball into the box but away from goal only for the Clutton full back make a rash challenge to give Wells another penalty. Catley again stepped up and finished calmly to give Wells a 2-1 lead going into half time.
Wells came out in the second half with the bit between their teeth and took the game to Clutton, and 5 minutes in Maynard had a chance which he blazed over. Clutton then started to get the ball down and showed signs of why they are third in the Premier Division, but with the defensive four and the midfield four of Charlie Crook, Dan Catley, Steve Emery and Olly Bryant all doing a fantastic job defensively as well as when on the attack the home side were resulting to long distance efforts. On 65 minutes a long ball found Maynard who calmly finished past the advancing keeper to get a deserved goal and Wells’ third. 2 minutes later Clutton again hit the upright with shot from the edge of the box which left Roper rooted to the spot. The hard working Catley was then replaced by Fabio Ramos to inject some renewed pace in the midfield. Wells continued to perform heroics all over the pitch, and two late substitutions, Pete Vowles replacing Grant and Scott Hurley replacing Olly Bryant to slow the game down and Wells ran out worthy 3-1 winners to book their place in the semi-final draw.
Man of the Match – Martyn Sheppard
After the game Assistant Manager Julian Coppell said “This was a top performance against a very good Clutton side, but once again we have proved what a good squad of players we have. This is the third Premier Division side we have knocked out of this cup so proves it is no fluke. We, as a management team are really proud of the lads and that the hard work and effort does pay off. We’re back to league action this week with an away game at the much improved Worle, so we need to take the form into this game as well”