IT WAS third time lucky for Tron as they beat Hook 3-1 in the final of the Peter Raynbird Cup which erased from the memory losses in the Basingstoke B Cup and North Hants May Cup, writes PETER RAYNBIRD.

When these sides met in the May Cup, Hook won 2-0, but this was sweet revenge as despite not being at full strength were the better team and deserved the win.

Darren Hutchins' team had by far the better of the first half and struck with both goals from goal poacher Ben Nicholls.

Their opening goal came after 17 minutes as a 20-yard shot from Richard Kalwarczyk was tipped onto the crossbar by goalkeeper Greg Archer and Nicholls was on hand to tuck away the rebound..

Zac Reynolds then had a great chance to double the lead, but his volley sailed high and wide, but on the half hour they did make it 2-0.

Nicholls scored again, as he intercepted a poor back pass by James Westwood and beat Archer easily.

Hook responded towards the break, but efforts from Pete Silvester and Andy Haig came to nothing and it was Reynolds who came closest to adding a third, but his shot went just wide.

After the break, Tron still pressed and an on target volley from Lorne Howard was deflected for a fruitless corner.

Hook then began to liven up and looked more like Basingstoke and District Saturday League Division One champions.

Charlie Page firing a long shot over the bar and then on 65 minutes they pulled a goal back as a quick raid down the left flank saw Dave White send over a perfect cross for Silvester to hammer past the helpless Adam Aimable.

Tron made sure of the victory with their third goal after 76 minutes as a long ball over the top from Barney Powell, saw the bounce deceived the Hook defence and fell nicely for Kalwarczyk to out muscle his man and score.

Near the end, Nicholls had a great chance to complete a hat-trick, but hit the side netting from Jamie Ballantyne's free-kick.

The cup and awards, including the man of the match trophy, won by Kalwarczyk, were presented by Peter Raynbird, the league president.

The winning Tron team was Adam Aimable, Max Elward, Kevin Beaumont, Ewan Westwood, Gordon Birch, Richard Kalwarczyk, Jamie Ballantyne, Lorne Howard, Barney Powell, Ben Nicholls, Zac Reynolds. Sub: Finley Hall.