GOALSCORER extraordinaire Julian Beaumont was denied a fairytale ending to his illustrious senior playing career in the SIL.

The 43-year-old finished on the losing side as Achilles were defeated 3-1 by Haughley United in the re-named Bob Coleman Cup final at Woodbridge Town on Saturday.

It was the striker’s final senior match in the competition he has graced for nearly two decades, scoring a remarkable 516 goals in 593 appearances for six senior clubs.

Beaumont reflected: “A goal would have been nice, but to win the cup would have been the icing on the cake. I missed a header early on which I should have scored

“I was chuffed to be here, but it just wasn’t meant to be our day.”

Beaumont plans to carry on playing next season, although he is undecided where.

“If I play for Achilles it will be for the reserves or I might step down to junior football.

“I will be 44 next month and I have got to make the right decision. Whoever I play for will have to accept I can’t run around the pitch as much as I used to, but I still want to carry on playing and enjoying my football.

Beaumont, who didn’t start playing in the SIL until he was 26 because of his involvement in stock car racing, said the highlight of his career had been winning the treble with Grundisburgh in 1998.

“It had never been done before, and if any team does it again it will be some feat. It is hard to win one trophy, let alone three in one season.

”I remember we played this cup final on the Tuesday night and the Suffolk Senior Cup final on the Thursday night at Portman Road which went to extra time. How we got through that I don’t know.”