EUTECTIC FC have won the Thames Valley Sunday Football League Shield after a 6-2 win against Merrymakers Old Boys Reserves.

The Feltham-based club defeated 10-man Merrymakers in this season’s final at Holloways Park, Beaconsfield last Thursday.

Man-of-the-match Ryan Nobes bagged a hat-trick in the win, whilst Lewis Nobes, Alfred Uzochukwu and Luke Groves also scored.

Eutectic manager Luis Rodrigues admitted that it was a real surprise his injury-struck team managed to reach the final.

He also believes that the victory was made easier after Merrymakers’ Denny Bulman was sent off in the second-half.

Rodrigues told The Observer: “The lads were very excited to get into the final, and I’m really surprised and happy for them.

“We went into the match with a few injuries, and it didn’t help that our captain took a bad tackle on the knee.

“He hobbled off and only managed five minutes of the second-half, but we were too good for Merrymakers.

“We have come on leaps and bounds and, though we weren’t expecting to win, our attack was too strong for them.

“We started off very slow but as the game went on we grew in confidence and were capable of winning.

“At half-time, I told the lads to be confident and keep on going, and they always had the belief to win.

“We had to re-organise but adapted well, and Merrymakers had a player sent off which made it a little bit easier.

“It was a great match until the red card and the final score is not a true reflection of the game.

“Merrymakers had no choice but to attack. They chased the game and it opened up, which made it easier for us.

“It was an achievement to get into the final and a little bit of a surprise to win, but we took our chances.” He added: “I’m just happy that we won without our best squad on the day, but the result was a surprise to be honest.

“A few of the lads have won silverware with the club before, but half of the squad is relatively young.

“The League Shield was a first cup final and is a first piece of silverware for a lot of the lads.” Rodrigues now hopes that Eutectic can build on their cup success and challenge for the Division Four title.

Eutectic are currently in fifth position in the table and nine points behind leaders Datchet Village Reserves.

Rodrigues said: “It’s out of our hands at the moment but we still believe and I think we can definitely achieve promotion.

“If we beat Datchet then we could go level on points with them, but they will probably have a better goal difference.

“We beat Datchet 1-0 earlier in the season and the lads are confident that we can fight for the league.

“It’s not going to be easy and we have got to contend with injuries due to all the games that we’ve played.

“I just hope that the players can recover and we can still win the league this season.” **PICK up a copy of The Observer, out now, for all the latest sports news and action including pictures from the League Shield final** **FOLLOW The Observer on Twitter at @Observer_sports**