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Sharpness v Frampton United

2.30pm  25 October 2015

Stroud Charity Cup Quarter Final
Sharpness 3 Frampton United 3, 1-4 on penalties (att 60)

Local cup competitions that play matches on Sundays are getting rarer, but the Stroud Charity Cup is still a useful source of extra games, and based on this tie it remains fiercely competitive.

The villages of Sharpness and Frampton-on-Severn are only a few miles apart, and the clubs are separated by one division, Frampton in the Gloucestershire County League while Sharpness compete in the county's lower Northern Senior League.

For most of this game Sharpness belied their lower status, racing into a two goal lead, before Frampton pulled one back ahead of half time. In the second period Sharpness added a third, then missed several chances to put the outcome beyond doubt.

Eventually they paid the price for poor finishing, Frampton pulled a goal back, and the home side tired as the visitors upped the pressure in the closing minutes. Frampton equalised with just three minutes left then, with an air of inevitability, won the penalty shootout decider (no extra time in this cup).

Sharpness used to play Hellenic League football, but following the loss of their ground they dropped down the leagues to their current level in the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League. They're yet to find a new venue in Sharpness itself, and now play in nearby Berkeley, at Hamfields, effectively the sports and social club for the disused Magnox nuclear power station, being decommissioned on the outskirts of the town.

There's no rail or rope around the pitch, and no dugouts, but it feels enclosed and it's a perfectly decent venue for this level of football.








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