THE BCFA MIDWEEK FLOODLIT CUP FINAL: CRadley Town 1-0 Nuneaton Town

To think that this time last year, Nuneaton Town didn’t even have a team, and here they were playing at the Poundland Bescot Stadium against Cradley Town in the Birmingham County FA Midweek Floodlit Cup Final.

The newly-formed club had already been crowned Midland Football League Division 1 champions a few weeks ago. Their opponents, Cradley, had already been defeated by Nuneaton Town 3 times this season, including a cup tie in the MFL League Cup earlier in the season. So many people expected Nuneaton Town to win this fixture.

One of the highlights of being a sports photographer is visiting new grounds - it was my first visit to Walsall’s Bescot Stadium. Built in 1989-1990, the ground is dominated by the Poundland Stand.

Early in the first half, Nuneaton Town’s goalkeeper, Brandon Bache suffered a cut head following a collision and had to be replaced by attacking midfielder, Louis Baker, who unluckily conceded the winning goal just a few minutes after coming on to the pitch. If Bache hadn’t been injured, then who knows what might have happened, and maybe it would have been a different result. Cradley fought well for the win and dealt with Nuneaton Town’s pressure very well.

From the response from the Nuneaton supporters at the end of the match you would have thought that they’d won. The final match of the season meant more to them than just a cup final. Following the demise of Nuneaton Borough, they’d got their club back. A club that is building a stable foundation of the pitch whilst pushing for success on the pitch.