Uxbridge U18 4  Northwood U18 1

Wednesday 1st September 2021

NORTHWOOD
1	Bogdan Dinulescu
2	Lewis Batten ©
3	Sam Saphir
4	Raul Vagdia
5	Bradley Tannian (59m)
6	Diogo Fonseca (67m)
7	Kacper Staszewski
8	Kwao Amartefio
9	Will Robinson (76m)
10	Zyion Achiro-Coleman
11	Oscar John
Substitutes
12	Ben Freeth (76m)
14	Joshua Ward-Beckles (67m)
15	Arinzechukwu Moneke (59m)

Paul Masters' Under 18s were unable to maintain their good start to the season as they crashed out of the FA Youth Cup at the first hurdle.

It was a tough away tie at Uxbridge that they faced, and after the home side had made a good start to the game, they took the lead on 16 minutes when a shot from Harvey Chambers beat Bogdan Dinulescu in goal who would have been disappointed with his handling.

But the Woods rallied well and they were level ten minutes later when Oscar John showed plenty of nimble footwork in the box to send defenders the wrong way before rolling his shot inside the post.

Northwood's youngsters were holding their own at this stage but in the five minutes before the break Uxbridge began to threaten again and Dinulescu was forced into a save to deny Ben Forde just before the half-time whistle.

In the second half, it was Northwood who were first to go close when Kwao Amartefio tried his luck from long-range but if flashed just wide of the post.

Then, the home side got their noses in front again as defensive errors began to creep into the Northwood game and Makael Scott netted with a cracking shot into the top corner after 56 minutes. Northwood were battling hard to stay in the game but lost Diogo Fonseca to injury midway through the half an this certainly had an effect as the back-line had to be shuffled.

The Woods had just one chance to get back on level terms and it again featured John who managed to rob the 'keeper and stab a shot goalwards. It lacked the power to beat the man on the line though and Will Robinson couldn't get the necessary touch before it was cleared.

The last ten minutes proved too much for the weakened Northwood side and Uxbridge added two late goals through substitute Sasha Gorin and Scott who bagged his second from distance.

Report by ALAN EVANS