Errea South West Challenge Cup

The Errea South West Challenge Cup is an English pre-season football tournament, which was held for the first time in North Devon in July 2008. Eight club sides entered the competition, and played eleven matches over the course of six days, with matches being hosted at Bideford FC, Appledore FC and Barnstaple FC. The tournament also featured an unconventional points system through the group stages, and during these earlier matches, each half was only 40 minutes in length. Eastleigh, who compete in the Blue Square South, ran out winners after they beat Torquay United, of the Blue Square Premier, on a penalty shoot-out after an entertaining Final.

The hosts

The Errea South West Challenge Cup was held in North Devon, with three local clubs hosting the matches. Bideford AFC played host to the main games, including the opening match and the Final, while Appledore FC and Barnstaple FC staged a selection of the other matches. All the grounds used were within a short drive of each other, meaning the tournament took place in a relatively small geographic area.

The teams

Eight teams from different levels on English football competed in the 2008 Errea Challenge Cup. They were -

Crystal Palace*
Yeovil Town
Torquay United
Kidderminster Harriers
Eastleigh
Chertsey Town
Bideford
Barnstaple Town

* - The Crystal Palace side which took part in the tournament was made up mostly of Youth and Academy players.

The draw

The draw for the Errea South West Challenge Cup split the eight clubs in to two groups of four teams. They were -

Group One

Crystal Palace
Eastleigh
Torquay United
Bideford

Group Two

Yeovil Town
Kidderminster Harriers
Chertsey Town
Barnstaple Town

Due to the limited length of the competition, each team only played two sides from their group. Through the group stages of the competition, two matches were played each day with one kicking off at 6pm and the other at 8pm, with the exception of the first day where the opening match didn't get underway until 7pm. The semi-final day saw one match kick-off at 3pm with the second game starting at 8pm, with the Final kicking off at 3pm on the Sunday. The draw was -

Tuesday 22nd July - Bideford v Torquay United (Bideford, 7pm), Barnstaple Town v Chertsey Town (Barnstaple, 8pm)
Wednesday 23rd July - Crystal Palace v Eastleigh (Appledore, 6pm), Yeovil Town v Kidderminster Harriers (Bideford, 8pm)
Thursday 24th July - Yeovil Town v Chertsey Town (Appledore, 6pm), Eastleigh v Torquay United (Bideford, 8pm)
Friday 25th July - Bideford v Crystal Palace (Bideford, 6pm), Barnstaple Town v Kidderminster Harriers (Barnstaple, 8pm)
Saturday 26th July - Winner Group 1 v Runner Up Group 2 (Bideford, 3pm), Winner Group 2 v Runner Up Group 1 (Barnstaple, 8pm)
Sunday 27th July - Semi-Final Winner 1 v Semi-Final Winner 2 (Bideford, 3pm)

The points system

The points system for the group stages of the competition were unconventional. As well as sides getting three points for a win, teams also got points for losing. They received one if they lost without scoring, and two if they lost and scored a goal. Although this caused a certain amount of confusion through the tournament, it was designed to make matches more attacking, especially as they were only 40 minutes each way in the group stages.

The group stages

Torquay United got the first win of the tournament when they defeated joint hosts Bideford 2-0 in the first match. This was followed up later in the evening by another defeat for a host; this time it was Barnstaple Town who went down 2-0, to Chertsey Town. The following day saw Eastleigh pull off the first surprise of the tournament as they stormed in to a 2-0 lead against a lacklustre Crystal Palace XI. Despite the London side pulling a goal back, Eastleigh held on for the win. Shortly after, Yeovil Town saw off Blue Square Premier side Kidderminster Harriers 2-0, thanks to goals from trialist Orlando Smeekes and Lloyd Owusu. The Glovers followed this up with a comfortable 4-1 win against Chertsey on the slope at Appledore. Andy Kirks second half header gave Yeovil the lead, and because of the points system, put them through. Controversy then reigned as Chertsey, who themselves needed just a goal to progress, scored a free-kick. However, their celebrations were cut short when referee Andrew Rhodda said he hadn't blown his whistle, and ordered a retake. Chertsey once again scored from the free-kick, but the referee once again demanded a retake, claiming once again that he hadn't signalled for the kick to be taken. At the third time of asking, the free-kick was tipped over the bar by the Yeovil goalkeeper, and Chertsey were denied their goal. Nathan Jones and a brace from Ren Turnock then saw Yeovil add to their lead, before referee Rhodda made up for his earlier decisions by awarding Chertsey a penalty. This was converted with what proved to be the last kick of the game to mean that both Chertsey (as runners-up) and Yeovil (as group winners) progressed to the semi-finals. That evening, Eastleigh held Torquay to a goal less draw before winning a penalty shoot-out to book their place in the next round as group winners. The following day, Friday, saw Crystal Palace beat Bideford 4-2 despite a real scare, and join the other three sides in the semi-finals of the competition.The meant the semi-finals would see Eastleigh take on Chertsey Town at Bideford, and Yeovil Town face Crystal Palace at Barnstaple.

Crystal Palace withdraw

Shortly after booking their place in the semi-finals, Crystal Palace withdrew from the competition, citing injuries as the reason. There were unconfirmed rumours at the time that Palace actually pulled out because of a lack of interest in the competition, but these were never substantiated. This withdrawal meant that Torquay United, who finished third in Group One, were reinstated and took on Yeovil Town in a semi-final.

The finals weekend

Blue Square South side Eastleigh went in to their semi-final as favourites, against Ryman League side Chertsey. It was a tough match for the side from the South coast, but they progressed to the following days Final, thanks for a second half winner. In the other semi-final, Yeovil faced a weakened Torquay team as the Gulls first team had faced a Chelsea XI at Plainmoor earlier in the day. However, the Glovers failed to take advantage and despite completely dominating long periods of the match, they struggled to put the ball in to the back of the net. It was Torquay who broke the deadlock, when they won a penalty against the run of play. Elliot Benyon converted the spot kick, despite keeper Josh Wagenaar getting a strong hand to the ball. With time ticking away, Danny Schofield picked the ball up on the right and after cutting inside fired a shot in off the inside of the post to level the match, and take it to a penalty shoot-out. Schofield undid his good work in the shoot-out, after seeing his penalty saved which allowed Torquay to progress to the Final.

Torquay fielded a near full strength side as they face Eastleigh in the Final, but they found themselves in trouble against their lower league opposition. A first half penalty had given the Spitfires the lead, and this was added to be a superb long range free-kick midway through the second period. However, Torquay struck back with two goals in three minutes. First, a low strike deflected up and over Eastleigh keeper Jason Matthews to get the score back to 2-1 on 83 minutes. On 85 minutes it was level, as the ball fell to a Torquay player on the edge of the box, and he fired home a swerving drive. This meant that the match went to penalties, and after both sides converted all their kicks, Torquay keeper Martin Rice put his kick wide to hand the Cup to Eastleigh.

The presentations

After the Final officials were given their awards, Eastleigh's Mark Marshall was announced as the player of the tournament and was presented with an award at the front of Bidefords Main Stand. He was followed by Torquay, who were given a Cup for finishing runners-up. After this, Eastleigh collected their medals, and lifted the Errea South West Challenge Cup to bring the tournament to an end.