Metropolitan Police Res 5  Northwood Res. 2

Tuesday 1st March 2011

Northwood Res.		Suburban League Imber Court, East Molesey, Surrey
Ben Dowsett	1	Kick Off
Reece Fallon	2	7.45 p.m.
Jordan Gutteridge	3	H/T
Sean Hollowed	4	1-2
Dominic Franklin	5	Scorers
Sam Ntim-Addae	6	Northwood
Jack Hutchinson	7	Walker, Alozie
Prince Alozie	8
Timi Salako	9
Patrick Lawrence	10
Romaine Walker	11
Ali Kabba (5)	12
Dujon Desagurante (6)	14
Matt Andrews (8)	15
Hassan Filali	16
-	17

Young Woods reserves took on high-flying Met Police at Imber Court on Tuesday in a highly entertaining game that was played in difficult conditions, with a very strong wind, and soft underfoot.

The game started with Woods having lots of possession but finding the vital pass difficult to find. The Mets’ more direct method was stretching the young Northwood defence. It was apparent that the Woods needed to tighten up when a long ball caught them square and a mishit shot ended up a great pass for the Police to take the lead.

Woods continued to play nice football but were still lacking a final ball, when a period of pressure from the visitors ended with Romaine Walker. With some football magic he beat the Met centre half and slotted home well. The very physical and strong Met side were testing the young Woods’ resolve, which they stood up to manfully. Harsh decisions were going against Northwood, and Jack Hutchinson was booked for having the nerve to tackle just as hard as them. The same Ref that took the recent Woking cup game did not seem to give us a fair deal, but the side buckled down and got on with it.

The Northwood back four was now reasonable tight, well led by Jordan Gutteridge well supported by Reece Fallon, Sean Hollowed and Dominic Franklin, and if the ball got through Ben Dowsett was performing well. However, just before half time a loss of concentration allowed the Police the lead again.

Some of the young Woods were feeling the pace but continued to give their all for the cause. There was yet another piece of Romaine Walker magic when he took on the Mets centre half, tied him in knots until the Mets player pulled him down in desperation. A slam dunk penalty, which Prince Alozie scored with ease the level at 2-2.

Ali Kabba gave us fresh legs and Matt Andrews came on to support. Pat Lawrence was welcomed back after a spell away and his presence was causing all sorts of problems for the Police. However, they held out and created attacks of their own, which resulted in them restoring their lead. The Woods had worked so hard, and Jack Hutchinson was still pulling the strings when a long forward pass was converted, and the game was almost over with about ten minutes to go. However, half-chances came and went for the Woods, but Mets secured the win with a final flourish which netted the points.

This was another fine performance from the Woods with nothing to show for it, but the more the side becomes settled – if that is possible with a reserve team – the more success they will have, and some of these kids will force themselves into the first team squad sooner or later. Alan and Geoff were still smiling at the end.

Report: GEOFF FOSTER