Etienne pleased Holyport kept their heads to progress in Berks & Bucks Senior Cup

Holyport captain Fabien Etienne says he was pleased to see his players keep their heads following some questionable refereeing decisions in their Berks and Bucks Senior Cup clash against Langley this week, with Port progressing to the competition’s next round thanks to a 4-2 win.

Alfie Pendlebury (two), Sam Jones, and Kickie Dzimba were all on target at the Summerleaze on Tuesday night, while George Dewhurst and Josh Hughes scored for Langley, with Sam Lock’s men yet to see who they will go head-to-head with next.

This victory comes after Holyport were beaten 2-1 by Milton United in the Combined Counties Premier Division North (Saturday, September 23).

Reflecting on Port’s cup success, Etienne said to the Advertiser: “I think we were quite dominant throughout. We created numerous chances, I think we ended up having 17 shots, while we reduced them to maybe one or two opportunities which, to be fair, they managed to exploit.

“I would say the referee had a bad day at the office. He made some very strange decisions and I think we could have been home and dry in the first half if it wasn’t for some of these decisions. We should have two of the clearest penalties in the first half. Even the lino, who is a Conference South lino, said ‘any other game that’s a certain penalty and probably a red card’.

“I think we were really hard done by in the first half but we kept grinding, kept our heads, and got the result.

“It was a great result given we went into the game on the back of a loss. Sometimes it’s hard to get over a defeat. We’re quite a young team so a lot of boys get disheartened when we lose and are not really that positive in the next game.”

Etienne added: “If I recall correctly, we went out in the first round of the Berks & Bucks Cup last season. I think we will take the competition a bit more seriously this year and we will try and push our way through multiple rounds.”

Holyport return to league action this weekend and travel to Berkeley Fields to face North Greenford United.