AFC Bournemouth
Jake Scrimshaw got the goalscoring started at Moneyfields on Tuesday night, talking through his delight at helping the Cherries reach the Hampshire Senior Cup final.
The Cherries won 3-2 amidst the rain in the semi-final, with the tie having originally been scheduled to take place back in February, before the pandemic took hold.
Gavin Kilkenny netted a second before half time for Bournemouth, Christian Saydee scoring what turned out to be the winner inside the final 20 minutes.
The win means the team now have the chance for cup final glory, a date to be deiced after the second semi-final between Eastleigh and Southampton on 2nd November, with the competitiveness a key positive for Scrimshaw.
He explained: "Getting to the final means a lot to us because we don't get too many games as competitive as these ones, so when we do have them we want to make it as far as we can and win the trophy - that's the aim.
"Moneyfields wanted to beat us but the lads did well over the 90 minutes. Everyone worked hard, we were organised, did the right things and that paid off in the end."
Scrimshaw's alertness and cool temperament gave the visitors the perfect start in the rainy conditions inside two minutes, the striker running onto Saydee's ball and finishing coolly.
For spells in the second half, Scrimshaw seemed certain to add to his tally, hitting the crossbar and taking on an entertaining dual with Moneyfields' 'keeper Jake Hallet, who impressively kept the Cherries man at bay on numerous occasions.
Scrimshaw started by describing his goal: "It was a nice ball from Christian, we used to work on that a lot when we were back in the under-18s together, and we pulled it off in the second minute. I just took it round the 'keeper and had an open net.
"It was just my instinct to go round the 'keeper, the ball didn't bounce very high, I was thinking of lobbing him but then I took the touch to take it past him.
"As soon as I saw the ball come through tonight I was picturing a goal, hoping that it happens - tonight the 'keeper decided he didn't want me to have a few more.
"I could have had a second, third or fourth in the second half, but their 'keeper was on form and did very well.
"We created a lot of chances, did well as a team and defended well."
After a difficult spell when the under-21s were not permitted to train or play earlier in the year, Scrimshaw is pleased to be able to be back on the goal trail and, more importantly, stepping out on the pitch.
"It's been nice to be back playing football," he said. "Obviously with the whole Covid thing we hadn't had many games and couldn't train much, so it's been good to be back with the team.
"Especially with playing games, because that's what you want to do."
