Goals from Daniel Tindall and Kyran Leigh proved to be enough for Corinthians to clinch the title, despite two late red cards.

Neither side was able to showcase the quality that they possess in the opening stages of the game. Scrappy, disjointed and slow, the two teams took the opening 10 minutes to build themselves into the final and come to terms with the occasion.

De La Salle looked to dictate possession early on, while Manchester Corinthians opted for a more direct approach, regularly looking to play the ball behind their opponent’s backline.

This approach paid off just after the 15-minute mark, as Sam Dunstan found Daniel Tindall bursting through the De La Salle defence and towards goal. Dunstan’s pass was placed perfectly in the void between the goalkeeper and the defence, and Tindall made the most of the opportunity presented to him. He beat the keeper to the ball, and his shot proved too powerful for Jack Galbraith as the ball found its way into the net.

De La Salle responded well to the setback, creating some golden opportunities for themselves. The first came to Zar Jordan after some fantastic attacking work by Theo Barr. The forward beat the offside trap and surged down the left-hand side, before cutting the ball back into the middle towards Jordan, but the striker could only find the side netting with his shot, and the Corinthians lead remained intact.

Shortly afterwards, Corinthians were once again unable to deal with Barr. He broke through the defence with the ball, accompanied by Jack Davies. With only the goalkeeper to beat, Barr squared the ball to Davies, but as the De La Salle captain looked to tap the ball into an empty net, he slipped and squandered the opportunity.

Manchester Corinthians solidified their lead early into the second half. A perfectly weighted pass from Dylan Francis allowed Corinthians to break in behind the De La Salle defence yet again. The player at the end of the pass was Kyran Leigh, and, with an unconventional technique, Leigh prodded the ball past Galbraith to make it 2-0.

The second half was a masterclass in game management from Manchester Corinthians, as they never allowed De La Salle to create any momentum. They were fighting for every ball, defending firmly and even creating chances of their own.

Two red cards in stoppage time for Oliver Higgins and Sam Dunstan made life significantly harder for those remaining on the pitch, but the dismissals proved to be too late for De La Salle to make the most of their advantage.

However, the red cards were only a small dampener on a sublime performance – Manchester Corinthians are your 2024 Saturday Amateur Cup Champions!