Tornados blow away Rangers to reach final

STRATFORD Town Tornados under-14s breezed their way into the AEFL Cup final with an 8-1 success over local rivals Alcester Town Rangers on Saturday.

Despite missing influential midfielder Tommy Williams through illness and kicking uphill, Tornados quickly took control of the match.

Captain Jimmy Middleton dominated the early exchanges in midfield with good support from Olly Parriss and Sam Hill.

Stratford took the lead after just five minutes when striker Kyle Browne, with his first touch of the ball, took a long-range shot which deflected into the net off the Rangers’ keeper.

Browne doubled the score for Tornados a couple of minutes later with a spectacular goal from the edge of the area and completed his hat-trick just before half time.

In the second half Stratford Town introduced midfielders Jack Morrison and Sam Salter and Rohan Punia in defence.

With the benefit of a significant downhill slope, they quickly extended their lead with Browne again linking up with Middleton for his fourth goal of the match.

Five minutes later, Middleton burst through midfield, beating four players before blasting the ball past the advancing keeper to put the tie beyond Alcester.

Goal machine Browne scored two more goals, taking his tally to six for the match before being substituted with man-of-the-match Jimmy Middleton.

Tornados were awarded a penalty in the closing minutes of the tie and goalkeeper Max Gregory fired home from the spot.

Stratford will have achieved an impressive hat-trick of AEFL Cup final apperances when they take on Alcester Town Juniors on Saturday, 28th April, at Pershore Town’s Solar Stadium. They previously won the trophy on their last two cup final appearances in 2016 and 2017.

A number of the Tornados squad previously played for the now disbanded Bidford Bombers and are hoping for an historic fifth consecutive cup final appearance, having previously also won the trophy in 2014 and 2015 against this year’s opponents.

Meanwhile, it wasn’t such good news for Stratford Town Colts under-13s, who suffered AEFL Cup semi-final heartbreak at Eckington.

Stratford were beaten 6-3, despite producing an excellent display against the Pool A league leaders. Sam Shuttleworth (2) and Taylor Holton were on target for the Colts.