PETER MORRISON TROPHY (SOUTHERN SECTION) ROUND ONE
SPEC 0 TEMPLE FORTUNE A 3
SPEC FC's hopes of a famous cup win were put firmly to bed as first division Temple Fortune A completed a professional 3-0 victory courtesy of strikes from Paul Walker, John Fisher and summer signing Jason Miller.
It was a game of two halves which really showed the magic of the Peter Morrison Trophy. Fortune came out of the blocks the quicker of the two teams in what was a great advert for the game.
Michael Goldberg, who had his own personal fan club watching from the sidelines, almost put Fortune ahead after 10 minutes with SPEC at sixes and sevens at the back. Daniel Pike, making his debut for SPEC, then made a great save from Jason Miller to keep the scores at 0-0.
Pike, who is more used to scoring goals than stopping them, stepped up and became the sixth goalkeeper to don the gloves for the Bananas.
Fortune, who went in to the game as favourites, won a corner which after SPEC failed to clear was turned in by Walker who came straight from the set of the latest awful instalment of The Fast and The Furious. Laurence Conway was left sick as a parrot in the SPEC dugout whilst Lee Fegan on the opposite bench was over the moon.
James Segal, who once again ran his socks off for his side, almost produced a great equaliser but the Fortune goalkeeper was on hand to tip his stinging effort round the post.
The striker, who has got pretty good feet for a big man, was visibly disappointed as he still searches for his first SPEC goal.
In a game that was full of end to end action the next goal was always going to be crucial and what a goal it was. Before Laurence Rosenthal could even get an ice-pack on his injured thigh strain which forced him off, Fisher reeled in a loose ball and caught Pike slightly off his line, hook line and sinker with a great effort from long range.
It was always going to be an uphill battle from there and with SPEC committing players forward they were always going to susceptible to a break from Fortune and that is exactly what happened with Miller on hand to supply the finish.
The game ended 3-0 and at the end of the day it’s all about the result in cup football. Both sides made it an entertaining game and with being the more clinical on the day.
Fortune will be somewhat relieved they sidestepped a potential banana skin in the shape of SPEC. Fortune took their chances and SPEC will know they can play better.
Fortune versus Camden Park in the next round should be a great game and SPEC will travel to Docklands next week for a London Sunday Junior Cup game before taking on Temple Fortune B in a big game in the league.
Fortune boss Lee Fegan told JC Sport: "It was a solid performance. We showed good character and a lot of qualities. I was delighted we did the job and full credit to SPEC for making it a competitive match."
SPEC manager Laurence Conway, refused to face the press after the game and he’ll be hoping that actions speak louder than words in SPEC’s next outing.