Old Boys goal-machine Carl Dibden fired the Alleynians into the Quarter Finals of the JW Hunt Cup on Wednesday night (3rd December) with a stunning second hat-trick in just five days.
Following on from his successful outing for the reserves on Saturday, Dibden added a second-half brace to his 25th minute opener in a 3-1 victory at home to Continental Star before a Chris Heard own goal provided the visitors with a consolation.
“This was a great win for us against higher league opposition,” said Old Boys manager Matt Smith afterwards. “We were by far the better side and could have even had a few more goals, hitting the woodwork twice in the second half. I was pleased with our shape and our work ethic, we gave nothing away and our quality in possession showed through. We now have two cup Quarter Finals to look forward to, but we need to concentrate on the league and winning our games in hand.”
Star came into the game as favourites, and play their football two levels above the Alleynians in the Midland Football Combination Premier Division. However, watching the game you could have been forgiven for thinking it was the Old Boys who compete in the superior division as they took control from the off.
Heard and Paul Griffiths got a grip of proceedings early on in midfield, and it was the former who sent full-back Sam Hodgkinson racing down the left midway through the first half. The defender showed a rapid turn of pace to run his opposing full-back and cut back an excellent ball for Dibden, whose improvised toe-poke ended with the net bulging at the near-post and the big man raising his arms in celebration.
A steadfast Alleynians defence, including the impressive Ian Whalley in his favoured central role, restricted the visitors to just a couple of rangy attempts that were easily gathered by returning goalkeeper Lewis Paglia.
The second period began in the same vein as the first, and Dibden made it two with an excellent lofted finish from inside the area. Grant Bigham then provided a rare assist with a brilliant through-ball that sent the Alleynians’ scorer towards goal. Although his touch around the goalkeeper took him wide, Dibden was able to despatch a perfectly weighted effort that crossed the line a split second before it was reached by a covering defender to give his side an unassailable lead.
Earlier, Luke Matthews hit the post with a close range effort before Adam Tomkinson and Danny Heard both had chances to further embellish the scoreline. However, indecision saw Tomkinson pass when he could have slotted home, and Heard was denied by a brilliant save from the visiting goalkeeper, who tipped onto the bar.
A mix-up in communication between Heard and Paglia then saw the midfielder deflect a corner into his own net, but the Alleynians had dominated throughout and were never in danger of throwing the tie away.
Stone OA: Paglia, Hodgkinson, I Whalley, Askey, Bigham, Thomas, C Heard, Griffiths © (Tomkinson), Matthews, Dibden (Farrelly), D Heard
The Old Boys are away at Trysull in the league on Saturday 13th December.
