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Northwood U18 2  Enfield Town U18 1

Thursday 12th September 2013

 

NORTHWOOD UNDER 18 FA Youth Cup Preliminary Round
 
 
   
Team line-up

 

1 Tom O’Brian
2 Hashim Aziz
3 Eric Nyarko
4 Ben Robson
5 Giles Townsend
6 Dave Palmer
7 Ronnie Blagden
8 Pranav Amarnath
9 Imran Haidray
10 Michael Elderfield  
11 Adam Wais  
Substitutes  
12 Jamie McKay  
14 Jamie Doolan  
15 Ricky Brown  
16 -  
17 -  
     

On a lovely calm evening at Chestnut Avenue a crowd of around fifty so came along to watch what they thought would probably be an Enfield win. What a shock Enfield got as Northwood battled hard for everything!

After weathering early Enfield attacks, Adam Wais broke down the left wing and his cross was deflected in by an Enfield defender on 20 minutes. This was exactly the tonic the Woods needed and with our strong defensive line up of Hashim Aziz, Eric Nyarko, Dave Palmer and Giles Townsend playing so well, Enfield were finding it hard to create chances.

On the odd occasions that Enfield Town did come near goal, Tom O’Brian was more than up to the challenge; Northwood went in 1-0 ahead at the break, and were good value for it.

Clearly Enfield would come out fighting and that’s exactly what happened. As the match became more physical both Dave Palmer and Eric Nyarko picked up yellow cards. The match had become intense now, and when Enfield equalised in the 68th minute with a slick movement which was well finished, heart rates were increasing.

Tom O’Brian was forced to make a couple of great saves, although at the other end Woods could have scored several times; substitute Jamie McKay was particularly unfortunate when a deflected shot crashed against the bar.

The match looked destined for extra time and that’s exactly the way it turned out. So into the extra 30 minutes, and boys on both sides were suffering with cramp and knocks. That said, Northwood looked the fitter, and in the third minute of the first period, substitute Jamie Doolan scored with a powerful header from a corner.

The battle was now really on, but despite this the Woods’ defence looked strong and the rest of the team were working really hard. Both Imran Haidray and Michael Michael Elderfield put in great shifts up front, whilst and Ronnie Blagden and Ben Robson were superb in midfield.

The end of the match and a famous win was now in sight; a win it indeed was but not before Tom O’Brian had produced an amazing save in the very last seconds of the match.

This was a fantastic team performance, which was greeted by a standing ovation from all there. It should also be said that the match, although fierce at times, had been played in good spirit and Enfield were a credit to themselves.

A great evening, and up next for Northwood in two weeks time is a trip to Harefield United who Woods beat 8-7 on penalties in last season’s FA Youth Cup. Clearly they will be looking for revenge this time around.
For match photos click here.

REPORT and PHOTOS by Alan Palmer



         
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