F.J. Pope Cup semi-final (first round)

St Briavels Res 1, Bream Res 4

ST BRIAVELS copped the lot on Saturday – wind, rain, sleet, snow and hail and, for good measure, an incident-packed cup game included a broken leg and five goals.

The game was only a few minutes old when Bream centre forward Darren Matthews went down in agony with a broken leg.

"It's fractured in two places and Darren is still in hospital. It was not a very good start to the game and took a bit of the shine off our victory," said club secretary Ian Hill.

Bream Reserves, in good form this season, pulled out all the stops and played well to make up for Darren's absence with a solid team performance.

"The wind was the dominating factor. We had it at our backs in the first-half and scored three goals. For most of the second-half we were under pressure and on the defensive but we managed a breakaway goal before St Briavels got one back close to full-time," said Hill.

He is confident his team can pull off victory in the second round to be played at Lydney's Whitecross School next Saturday. Victory would see them play Lakers or Whitecroft in the final.

Bream's semi-final goals were scored by Dean Huyton, Danny Banfield, Matthew Ward and Dave Palama.

It was been a good season for the Bream club with both the First X1 and the Second X1 in excellent form.

Both teams are close to the top of their respective leagues – the First X1 in North Gloucester League division 1 and coached by Graham Clements, and the Reserves in NGL division 4, coached by Glyn Shingles.

"I don't think they can win the leagues but with a bit of luck both sides could get runners-up spots and gain promotion," said Hill.

Soccer in the village is strong at the moment with thriving junior sides – but there is a snag.

"There is not much flat land around Bream and the pitch in the centre of the village is not available because of poor drainage. As a result we have to play all our home matches three miles away in Lydney.

"If we gained promotion perhaps we would have to look at fund-raising schemes to try and bring football back to the village," said Hall.