From the Archives: ISFA Cup ends in disappointment as Millfield sink young Hampton

The following is taken from the first edition of Hampton Sports Chronicle, in Spring 2005.

By Joshua Freedman

Millfield 3-1 Hampton, ISFA Final, 2005

And so six years become seven. Hampton School will be wondering when the void will end. For eight minutes on March 14, it looked as though it would do just that.

Frank Paxton had just put Hampton 1-0 up. The yellow end of the Walkers Stadium bubbling, Hampton looked on top. Maybe the title was on its way to London.

And then along came Reuben Reid and his Millfield School giants to win the final 3-1. Hampton were thumped, battered, thrashed for most of the 80 minutes. They simply never looked close to the Somerset side. Paxton’s early strike was squeezed into insignificance. In effect, it was a consolation goal.

It was a stark contrast from 1999. Alex Nasrallah Stone’s early header at Filbert Street had acted as a springboard as Hampton’s lead then bounced up to 2-0. This time, the goal was a damper, a knife to break the springs. It was Hampton’s last moment of joy.

The only heroics from a Hampton player came from the goalkeeper. Nick Jupp – in what was, ironically, his best performance of the season – conceded three.

But it could have been much, much worse. An astonishing save kept out Francis Rolli’s piledriving free-kick and Jupp’s constant presence kept the score to only a mild embarrassment.

The performance in the final goes only a minimal way in telling the Jupp story in the Boodles ISFA Cup this season. Given the award for providing the moment of the final – his save from Rolli – the safest pair of hands in all of Hampton was the number-one reason for the school’s appearance at the Walkers Stadium.

He, along with all but one of the starting XI, has time left at Hampton. Next season’s project will be to take the team back to Leicester.