Village FC hit six as they make it to the final of the GFSN Cup
- Village FC progress to the final of the GFSN Cup with a 6-0 win over Millwall Romans
- Goals from Fernando Martins, Dan Hodgson, Matthew Hodgson, Chris Telling and Georgios Mourdoukoutas
- Reigning Champions, Village FC, now face Dublin Devils FC in the final
Village FC progressed to the final of the Gay Football Supporters’ Network Cup after thrashing Millwall Romans 6-0 at home at the weekend.
The victory confirms a second final on the bounce for reigning champions Village FC.
The club will be hoping they can beat finalists, Dublin Devils FC to claim a record breaking fourth GFSN Cup title.
Before the game there was little to split the two sides, having both played each other in last year’s final which saw the Reds narrowly win on penalties.
However, a perfect start from Village saw them score twice within the first 10 minutes.
The first goal went in after just three as Fernando Martins poked the ball past the keeper.
Teammates Kev Robinson and Daniel Hodgson pressed well to win the ball high up the pitch, before providing the striker with the chance.
The second goal followed some three minutes later as Declan Moran skilfully drove into the box on the left.
The winger then cut the ball back to Dan Hodgson who slotted home from six yards out to complete the perfect start for Village FC.
Millwall struggled to find a foot hold in the game following Village’s quick start and soon found themselves 3-0 down after just 23 minutes.
This time a lofted ball from a corner found goal scorer, Dan Hodgson who headed the ball to the feet of his brother Matthew. The defender then hit a brilliant half volley into the roof of the net to make it three.
As Village FC’s fantastic defensive performance continued to keep the Romans out, midfielder Chris Telling made it four with what can only be described as a screamer.
The NQ ‘man of the match’ let the ball roll across his body before smashing a right footed shot into the top corner from 25 yards out, leaving the Millwall keeper with no chance.
Half- time approached and Millwall were determined to put up a fight.
However, another quick start from kick-off meant Village were 5-0 up less than a minute into the second half.
Fernando Martins crossed the ball to substitute, Georgios Mourdoukoutas who surged into the box to put it past the keeper on the volley.
Complacency on the ball began to creep in for the reds as Millwall made a handful of chances in the second half.
However, team spirit showed through as they kept their discipline.
And it would be almost the final kick of the game before Village found their sixth.
Goal scorer, Georgios Mourdoukoutas returned the favour to teammate Fernando Martins who put away his second of the game as he got on the end of a searching cross into the box.
NQ spoke to Village FC’s goalkeeper, Jeremy Baker after the game.
He said: “Going into it I was really nervous because we knew how good of a team they are, they’re very well organised and you just don’t know how the game is going to go until it kicks off.
“But we came in prepared, we had a good team talk before hand, we knew what we were up against, and we just came out and executed.
“To set that tempo and set that pace by putting two goals in early it just gave us a perfect platform to go on and play the way we wanted to play.”
When asked about the club reaching its second final of the GFSN Cup in a row, he said: “I remember the first GFSN Cup final I played in was about six years ago and at that time we only had two teams.
“Now we have six teams, we have a great foundation, we have players coming in who can play football whether they want to be competitive or just have fun and were really setting the precedence for how we want the club to move forward.
And he thinks Village FC can beat Dublin Devils in the final, saying: “We are confident, but we can’t go in cocky so we’re not going to stroll in there thinking we have it won.
“We’ve got to come out and execute the way we did today and I think we can come out on top.”
Village FC now face Dublin Devils in the final, with the date and venue still to be announced.
They won their semi final match 4-3 against Yorkshire Terriers.
• All credits for photography go to Gordon S Marino. Check out his website here