ROGER HERRIDGE says Binfield fully deserved their victory as they stunned Thatcham Town in the Floodlit Cup final.
Herridge had guided the Moles to five previous finals since taking charge in 2014, but lost each one and went into Monday night’s clash at Windsor with newly-crowned Hellenic Premier champions Thatcham as underdogs again.
But two Sanchez Commock goals set Binfield on their way to a memorable and well-earned win, although they did have to survive a late scare following Shane Cooper-Clark’s successful penalty.
And although the 2-1 win marked the end of a hoodoo for Herridge, he insisted that should not be the main focus.
“This is not about me,” he said.
“I’ve never made it about me.
“When the team plays well, the team gets all the credit and they have to put up with me.
“I support these boys, I’m not a bloke that’s going to shout and scream at them in the dressing room.
“This is not for me, it’s for the club and the players, they deserve it.”
He added: “I’m elated for the players, but more than anything I’m pleased for the people at the club, Bob (Bacon, chairman) and Rob Challis (secretary), they put an awful lot of time and effort into it.
“Those people behind the scenes, that win is for them really.”
Thatcham came into the game on the back of an incredible 40-game unbeaten run since October, culminating in winning the league and also booking a spot in the FA Vase final at Wembley later this month.
During that run, the Kingfishers had beaten Binfield twice, including a 5-0 thrashing in April.
But they struggled to cause many problems throughout the evening, falling behind when Commock, who Binfield originally thought would be cup-tied, headed in a Sean Moore cross on 15 minutes.
Commock then doubled the tally five minutes into the second half after a fine run and finish.
Thatcham rallied, looking to set up a grandstand finale and they did exactly that after being controversially awarded a penalty in the closing minutes, which Cooper-Clark tucked home.
But the Moles saw out the win to pick up the trophy.
And Herridge believes his side’s triumph was fully earned.
“I thought we were fantastic really,” said the Binfield boss.
“I don’t think there will be too many people who came away from the game that wouldn’t say we deserved it.
“Thatcham are as good a side as it gets at step five and we beat them.
“We’ve gone toe-to-toe with them.
“They won the league on Saturday and they deserve it, they are the best side in the league.
“I know they’ve got the League Cup final and the FA Vase final to come and I hope they go and win both those competitions, but this was our night and we’ll enjoy it.”
He added: “We were disappointed not to finish in the top six of the league, we should’ve done.
“Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been on the back end of a few disappointing results.
“But to finish the season with a trophy and win against a very, very good side gives us a nice boost at the end of the season.”
