MANAGER Mark Tallentire heaped praise on his ‘fringe’ players after they performed a major role in helping Bracknell Town lift the Berks & Bucks Senior Trophy, writes Dave Wright.

The Robins were missing several regulars when they defeated Binfield 2-0, with Seb Bowerman, George Short and Joe Grant all out injured, while Carl Davies and Jamie McClurg were both suspended.

Manager Mark Tallentire said: “One of the great things about this result was how well the players we brought in played.

“The regulars performed well, but those who have not been playing regularly or have made just a few appearances all made major contributions to our performance.

“We asked people to come in to do a job for us and they were fantastic.”

Carl Withers, who netted the second goal from the penalty spot, Callum Whitty, Kennie Chamberlain and Dan Roberts were all in the starting line-up for last Tuesday’s final at Windsor FC.

“Callum and Carl never let us down when they come on, usually from the subs bench,” added Tallentire.

“Dan was awesome, as was Kennie. I can’t remember the last time Kennie played, but he was absolutely awesome. He put so much effort in that he ran himself into the ground and was sick at the end of the game.”

Tallentire also paid a lot of credit to his team as they bounced back from their failure to win the Hellenic League title the previous Saturday.

“After that disappointment we were all on the floor,” he admitted.

“So for this group of lads to go through those emotions and then put in a performance like they have was tremendous. It made up for the disappointment of not winning the league.

“With so many players missing, it was a bit of a mission to get a team out that I felt could compete well against Binfield, but once the two boys (TJ Bohane and Adam Cornell) at the top end said they were fit, I knew we would be in with a good shout of winning.”

It was Bohane who broke the deadlock in the 57th minute and he was a constant threat to the Binfield defence until he was carried off with stud marks visible above his knee following a challenge that saw Michael Walton sent off.

“That looked close to being a leg breaker and I was a bit disappointed with some of the tackling from one or two of the Binfield players.

“They got a bit over zealous at times,” said Tallentire.

“But let’s not dwell on that, let’s talk about our victory.

“It’s not every day you win a cup and it was a fantastic effort from all the players.

“They all thoroughly deserved it.”

And it may not be the only piece of silverware seen at Larges Lane this season.

The Robins are through to the semi-finals of two other competitions, with ties against Hellenic Division One East opposition.

Tonight (Thursday) they host Headington Amateurs in the Bluefin Sport Hellenic League Cup (7.45pm) with the winners meeting either Highworth or Brimscombe & Thrupp, who were due to have played their semi final last night (Tuesday).

Then on Saturday, April 29, Bracknell face Wokingham & Emmbrook at Lowther Road in the Reading Invitation Senior Cup.