The Virtual Cup was the brainchild of the author of the FansofWesternLeagueClubs twitter feed, who wanted to run a competition to keep fans amused during lockdown. Using the simple format of rolling two dice to decide the final score of matches, "Nick" ran a Champions League style tournament allocating all 41 Toolstation Western League Clubs to groups, before proceeding to the knockout stages.
The Miners faced local rivals Shepton Mallet in the final and had the game be played on grass, First Division Radstock would have gone into the match as big underdogs against their Premier Division neighbours. And so it proved in the Final, with Radstock coming from behind to take the victory by four goals to three.
Radstock took the lead through Ryan Child only to be pegged back before half time with an equaliser from Mallet's Joe Morgan. Despite a bright start to the second half, Radstock fell behind, through a Jack Fillingham chip. Yet the Miners were not giving up without a fight and promptly levelled through Simon Millard, only for Shepton to retake the lead from the penalty spot.
Former Paulton and Welton player James Billings nearly put the game beyond doubt for Shepton, only for his effort to be ruled out for offside. With only 3 minutes left in the game Radstock were a long way away from lifting any silverware, so cometh the hour cometh the man and Elliott Dugan tapped home from close range, following a free kick into the Shepton box. Yet the drama wasn't complete, as Nathan Legge had a chance to win it for Shepton, only for Radstock’s James Rustell to secure the winning goal late into stoppage time.
Did any of that really happen? Virtually! The full match commentary was played out in real time on twitter and whilst the result was predetermined by the role of the dice, the match action was broadcast thanks to the imagination and research of the social media accounts author, plus a few helpful suggestions from some of the players involved!
On their way to the Final, Radstock saw off Premier Division opposition in the form of Westbury, Roman Glass and Bridport. The Miners also topped their Group which featured Cadbury Heath along with fellow First Division sides Warminster Town and Almondsbury.
Social media fan, known only as "Nick", devised the tournament as a way of paying for NHS heroes to attend a game at the wining Club next season. However, with the Western Leagues announcement that any NHS staff member can attend a League game for free next season, Nick has evolved his original idea, in conjunction with Radstock Town, to provide a group of key workers in the Radstock area with the opportunity to enjoy a game at Southfields next season.
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