A WEEKEND of Forest football finished with a great result for the Great Western Air Ambulance.

The three finals in what is collectively known as the Hospital Cup competition prompted a record donation to the charity.

The finals of the FJ Pope Cup, Geo Sandoe Cup and JO Roberts Cup started with a record amount being taken – and just got better.

North Gloucestershire Football League officials who organised the cup competitions say the cash boost took them by surprise but they are delighted with the results.

The need for the air ambulance was underlined on Monday (May 31) when it responded to an emergency near Longhope.

Fans paid £3 each to see the FJ Pope Cup final between Mitcheldean Reserves and Lydney Town A at Broadwell on Saturday, Longhope and Ellwood compete for the Geo Sandoe Cup at Harrow Hill on Sunday and Mushet and Coalway play Viney St Swithins in the JO Roberts Cup at English Bicknor on Bank Holiday Monday.

North Glos League chairman Roger Sansom said: “On Saturday we broke our record by taking £731 at Broadwell for the FJ Pope.

Speaking after the game at English Bicknor, he said: “We then exceeded that by taking £884 at Harrow Hill yesterday, which again was a record, and today I’m pleased to say we broke the record again and we’ve taken £1,075.”

It means that a total of £2,690 will be presented to the charity which responds to emergencies across Gloucestershire, Somerset and parts of Wiltshire and relies on donations.

Mr Sansom added: “With the restrictions being lifted in April, the league decided to run the Hospital Cup competition because, obviously, teams wanted games and we wanted to provide football.

“It is also a good way of raising money for charity which is the object of the Hospital Cup competition.”

League secretary Allan Hale said they had not expected record amounts to be raised across the weekend.

He said: “We've had a cracking weekend of football and the support has been fantastic.

“What has been good to see is that there were families coming along to watch the games.

“We didn't expect to raise so much money but it's fantastic that we will be able to give a record donation to the air ambulance.

“We thank everyone who came out to support us this weekend.

“The air ambulance does absolutely vital work and many of us will have seen it in the Forest.”

The air ambulance was scrambled from its base at Almondsbury near Bristol shortly after midday following a collision near Dursley Cross Farm, Longhope.

The incident involved a motorcycle and a car towing a caravan and the motorcyclist, a man in his 70s from Hampshire, was declared dead at the scene.

The driver of the car received minor injuries and the passenger was unhurt.

The road was closed for around seven hours and police have appealed for any further witnesses or anyone with dash-cam footage to come forward.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Gloucestershire Police on 101 or by filling out a form on the force website, www.gloucestershire.police.uk quoting incident 216 of May 31.