MANAGER Craig Sumner heaped praise on his Henley Town players after seeing them battle back from 3-1 down to beat favourites Binfield 5-3 in extra time to win the Reading Senior Cup, writes Dave Wright.

“I was very, very pleased with them. To come from two goals down to beat a good side like Binfield is something special,” said Sumner, who is also chairman of FC Woodley.

“I could not be more pleased, especially as we were the underdogs.

“We are a Level Six club and they are Level Five, although we are now going up to Level Five ourselves next season.”

Speaking after last Thursday’s final at Madejski Stadium, Sumner added: “We knew Binfield are very good in playing the ball around and our game plan was to let them have the ball, keep it in front of us, and try to catch them on the break. We did that well.”

While describing it as “very good” team performance, Sumner gave extra praise to skipper Richard Thomas and his centre-back partner Warren Baxter, describing them as “fantastic”.

The Henley manager conceded that the Hellenic Premier Division side shaded the first half and that the turning point was the sending off of Moles defender Jack Broome.

“If you stamp on a player then you deserve to go,” added Sumner.

“It was disappointing to see them score a third shortly after the red card.

“We went three up front to stretch them and started to create chances and we scored some fantastic goals.

“Binfield looked dangerous at times but we defended really well and in the end we thoroughly deserved to win.

“It was a bit special to be able to send on a 17-year-old lad [Liam Tindell] towards the end and for him to pop the fifth goal in was fantastic. I was very pleased with that.”

Sumner said: “We are the first Henley team ever to win this competition, and so that makes it even more special.

“It was an entertaining game and Binfield played their part. They are a good football side and I hope my players have learned things and know what to expect in the Premier Division next season.”

Sumner continued: “I am also chairman of FC Woodley and it was nice to have young Liam Oglesby from the Zebras as the team mascot for the final.”

He has already started to look for new players to strengthen his squad for next season following their promotion from Hellenic Division One East.