Northwood Under 18 4  Fleet Town Under 18 1

Thursday 28th April 2011

Northwood U18		Ryman Youth League Chestnut Avenue, Northwood
Chezney Cassell	1	Kick Off
Reece Fallon	2	7.45 p.m.
Prince Umah	3	H/T
Jonas Charles	4	1-0
John Uche	5	Scorers
Liam McGrath	6	Northwood
Julian Smith	7	Walker, Thomas, McLeod, Cassell
Nathan McLeod	8
Romaine Walker	9
Julian Cole	10
Damilola Thomas	11
Gbenga Adelana (7)	12
Jordan Douglas (11)	14
Jack Hutchinson (10)	15
-	16
-	17

Having conceded second place in the title race to Woking and having also battled with Staines before they could claim the title as deserved champions, the objective against Fleet Town was to repair the damage done and resume winning ways. 

Fleet were fortunate to gain a point at their home ground, where arguably Woods faltered and set the tone for the bad run of form after. This game was important for Woods to regain their momentum and finish the season as they had started. 

The play started at a fast pace, with the energetic Woods looking bright and lively in their passing and in the first five minutes Julian Cole twice got round Fleet’s left back only to spurn a couple of good half chances. This set the pattern of the game as, in the first 15 minutes, created chances for both Romaine Walker and Damilola Thomas who failed to make it count.  However in the 20th minute, Nathan McLeod picked out Cole on the right, and he raced past the left back and crossed into the box, where Walker, unmarked, comfortably headed past a stranded keeper for 1-0. 

Fleet had no answer to a strong and imposing Woods side, who defended stoutly but attacked with pace and could have scored several goals but lacked in an end product.  Fleet rarely troubled the Woods in defence, with Prince Umah making his debut at left back and the combination of John Uche and Liam McGrath in the centre plus Reece Fallon at right back proved solid. 

In the second half Northwood started even faster out of the blocks, with captain Jonas Charles in the 48th minute winning the ball in the centre. He found McLeod outside the box, who cleverly stroked the ball into the path of Thomas, and he shimmied round the defender and struck a curling shot in the top right hand corner of the goal to make it 2-0. 

Fleet could not cope with the strength and movement of the Woods, with both Charles and McLeod totally dominating the flow of the game in the middle of the park, while giving licence for Julian Smith to roam and support the attack. In the 60th minute McLeod picked up the ball outside Fleet’s 18-yard box and this time, instead of his usual pass, swivelled past his marker and cracked a superb 20 yard shot into the top right hand corner of the net for 3-0.

Fleet were rocking but battling to get a foothold in the game. Several high kicks into the Woods defence kept Chezney Cassell on as toes as the Fleet strikers were denied a couple of good half chances. The Woods reinforced their attacking options by making changes with Gbenga Adelana coming on for Smith, Jack Hutchinson on for Cole, and Jordan Douglas for Thomas. 

Adelana and Hutchinson made an immediate impact as they attacked the right and left with pace and both had chances to add to the scoresheet.  However, it was the trickery of Walker, who was brutally brought down in the penalty area, and the coolness of keeper Cassell that brought Woods their fourth goal from the penalty spot on 75 minutes, having to take it twice to make sure.  In the 80th minute Fleet grabbed a consolation goal.  Overall, it was a good team effort with some excellent individual performances and three more points.

Report: TREVOR CHARLES