ALLIEDS MATCH REPORTS 2007-08

Northwood Youth 3 Hillingdon Borough Youth 1

12th March 2008

Northwood
Troy Roach	1
Dan Power	2
Frank Lynam	3
Jamie Tompkins	4
Nick Glenday	5
Tyrone Durrant	6
Ollie Wright	7
Scott Purdue	8
Jake O'Meara	9
Aryan Tajbakhsh	10
Jack Bennett.	11
Substitutes
Elliott Gibbs (3)	12
Aiden Lynam (7)	14
Courtney Francis (9)	15
	16
	17

Jeff Ritson Middlesex Senior Youth Cup Final

North Greenford

United FC

Kick Off

7.30 p.m.

Attendance

H/T

1-1

Scorers

Northwood

Bennett 6, Tajbakhsh 58, Tompkins 69

Hillingdon Borough

Coleman 12

Bookings

Northwood

Hillingdon Borough

Sent Off

Northwood

n/a

Hillingdon Borough

n/a

	Hillingdon Borough
1	Elliott Marks
2	Carl Jackson
3	Chris Redford
4	Jack Bareham
5	Chris Pape
6	Remmell Clarke
7	Kevin Smith
8	Callum McCarroll
9	Rueben Lorenco
10	Nico Coleman
11	Glen Yala
	Substitutes
12	Jermaine Ekpo (3)
14	Matt O'Connor (8)
15	Matthew Weston (10)
16
17

Match Report
by Alan Evans

The Woods took the Jeff Ritson Middlesex County Senior Youth Cup for the first-ever time on Wednesday night with an impressive second-half performance seeing off their plucky opponents.

Northwood have looked impressive throughout this competition, having seen off Wealdstone, Uxbridge and Edgware Town in previous rounds, and they got off to a cracking start in the final, played at holders North Greenford United FC.

The match was just six minutes old when Tyrone Durrant won a header in midfield and when it dropped to Jack Bennett some 25 yards out, he hit a first-time lob which had goalkeeper Elliott Marks well beaten.

It was a short-lived lead, though, as just six minutes later a good run down the right from the Borough exposed a gap in the Woods defence and when Dan Power tried to clear, the ball struck Nico Coleman and rebounded into the net, giving goalkeeper Troy Roach no chance.

The wind was playing a significant part and Aryan Taj's inswinging corner hit the crossbar just two minutes later, but Hillingdon were looking dangerous on the break and Roach had to make a good save at the feet of Coleman soon after. In fact the young 'keeper took a knock which left him looking groggy but he was determined to carry on between the posts.

Bennett was causing plenty of problems down the left flank, forcing Marks into one good save, then crossing dangerously with the 'keeper just cutting it out in front of the lurking Jake O'Meara.

After 35 minutes another good run from Bennett saw him beat two defenders and then cut the ball back to Durrant but he shot well wide of the target.

Borough went close with a long-range strike from Callum McCarroll, and the Woods responded with Nick Glenday glancing a header just wide from a Power cross.

Just before the break, Hillingdon threatened again with Rueben Lorenco being put through on goal but Roach kept the Woods level with a fine stop; Glenday then blocking the follow-up effort.

Half-time brought some telling words from management team Jez Reilly and Phil Hatcher, and the boys picked up the pace in the second-half.

Hillingdon never got a look in from the start, with Bennett linking up well with Taj to pull apart a resolute Borough defence.

After 56 minutes a good run from Frank Lynam saw him ride two tackles and find Bennett whose cross was met by Ollie Wright but his shot failed to beat Marks in goal.

Just two minutes later, the Woods were back in front when Taj was rewarded for some skilful play in the box when his angled shot took a deflection to give Marks no chance.

It was all Northwood at this stage and Scott Purdue thought he had added to the scoreline when he let fly from distance but Marks was equal to it, back-peddling and tipping the ball over the crossbar.

After 69 minutes, Hillingdon only half-cleared a corner and when Taj's shot from just outside the box was deflected, the ball fell kindly for Jamie Tompkins to rifle the ball home from six yards.

Substitutions were made on both sides and the game got a little scrappy with a few yellow cards being shown, but the Woods never looked like losing their grip on the game.

Top scorer Courtney Francis, who was only on the bench after having been struggling with an injury, came on with ten minutes to play, almost scored with his first touch. Put through on goal, he raced clear but then saw his shot superbly saved by Marks and Taj's follow-up to the loose ball was also blocked.

Finally, in stoppage-time, the Woods could have put the icing on the cake when Bennett and Taj again unlocked the Borough defence to set up substitute Aiden Lynam but he missed his chance in the centre of goal.

The whistle went soon after and Northwood skipper Glenday stepped up to receive the Cup from Middlesex FA Guest of Honour Robin Machell.

It was a great performance by all the lads, but Jack Bennett was the star with his all-action wing-play and Tyrone Durrant was a real rock in the heart of the midfield.

Read the match preview here.

PHOTO GALLERY (Click thumbnail to enlarge)