CELEBRATIONS have turned to heartbreak for Finchampstead Reserves after it was discovered that they fielded an ineligible player in the final of the Berks & Bucks Junior Cup.

Finch put in a superb performance to beat Oakley United 1-0 a fortnight ago and lift the cup for the first time since 1960.

But they are now set to have it taken away from them due to a breach of rules in fielding an ineligible player, Lewis Frostick.

Frostick returned to Finch in March from Ascot United and played in both the semi-finals and final of the cup.

However, unbeknown to everyone at the club, he had also played for Chertsey Town in the Surrey County Cup earlier in the season, making him ineligible to play in another county cup competition for a different team.

Finch were unaware of the situation until it was brought to the attention of the Berks & Bucks FA, presumably by a member of Oakley.

Finch secretary Nick Markham said he was 'guttted' for the team and also surprised to discover that Frostick was cup tied.

"We did all the checks on football mitoo (football registration website), as we always do, to see what clubs he had played for in the past, and it didn't show he had played in any other cups," Markham told the News.

"But then it turns out he played for Chertsey, which was news to us. We have got pen pics of all our players on the website and someone from Oakley United must have taken a look.

"It was such a fantastic performance in the final and I am just gutted for all the young lads. There was no malice and we didn't do it on purpose, but the rules are rules, I can't see them saying we can keep the cup."

Markham confirmed that Finch will not appeal against the ruling and they expect to learn their fate in the next fortnight.

He also said that the situation should act as a lesson for the governing bodies to make tracking players' history easier.

"It's so easy to register for teams these days that it should be easier to check the history of players," he said.

"He played three games for Chertsey but because their league is not on football mitoo we weren't to know that. We did our checks internally and asked Lewis but he said he was not sure. The websites need to catch up."