Barking Under 18 2  Northwood Under 18 4

Wednesday 22nd September 2010

Northwood U18		FA Youth Cup 1st Qual. Rnd. Mayesbrooke, Dagenham
Chezney Cassell	1	Kick Off
Tommy Day	2	7.30 p.m.
Gbenga Adelana	3	H/T
Jonas Charles	4	2-0
Reece Fallon	5	Scorers
Sean Hollowed	6	Northwood
Justin Smith	7	McLeod, Charles, Walker, Hutchinson
Liam McGrath	8
Jordan Douglas	9
Nathan McLeod	10
Lamin Cole	11
Romaine Walker (9)	12
Julian Cole (2)	14
Jack Hutchinson (10)	15
Shirat Shah	16
Zain Khan	17

The Woods moved into the next round of the FA Youth Cup with this entertaining away win in East London, but they were made to battle all the way through 120 minutes of football that was full of changing fortunes. The home side had pulled off a shock defeat of Staines Town in the previous round, so there was no possibility of the Woods management under-estimating them, and they went into the game with a defensive slant to the starting line-up.

Barking did start well and Woods goalkeeper Chezney Cassell had to be out quickly to block a shot at the feet of Ali Mohammed in just the second minute, and just a minute later Northwood conceded a penalty when Gbenga Adelana slipped and pushed the ball off for a corner with his arm. It was a great opportunity for the Blues, but Jay Simmons hit a spot-kick which Cassell saved and Barking also hit the post from the rebound.

Having soaked up the early pressure, the Woods then took a 17th minute lead with their very first effort on goal. Liam McGrath played a neat ball down the line to Lamin Cole and his cross picked out Nathan McLeod who hit a delightful chip over goalkeeper Jordan Sale and into the net.

Simmons was working hard up front trying to atone for his earlier miss and he sent a succession of shots and overhead-kicks wide of the target while Cassell also tipped over a long-range punt from Lee Simon. After 35 minutes Darius Egucleonan tried to get in on the act for the home side as he seized on a midfield error and waltzed into the box but he struck his shot well wide.

The Woods finished the half well though. A corner was headed back towards goal by Jonas Charles and when the ball was blocked, McGrath headed goalwards but Sale managed to push it wide. A similar corner was knocked in by Cole again and this time Charles has space to volley in at the far post and double the lead at a crucial time just before the break.

With a two-goal lead the Woods will have been full of confidence as they started the second-half and they also chose the first minute to replace Jordan Douglas, who had done a fine job up front on his own, with top scorer Romaine Walker. Walker tested Sale with a free-kick soon after, which the ‘keeper kept out at his near post, and then ran onto a good ball from McGrath but shot wide of the target. More pace was added by the introduction of Julian Cole for Tommy Day but this also meant a shuffle of positions with Julian Smith dropping back into defence.

Barking had also brought on Kenneth President as a sub at the same time and it was he who robbed the ball off Charles in midfield, and chipped it forward for Simmons to head over the oncoming Cassell and reduce the arrears. The Woods rallied with Julian Cole forcing Sole into another good save and then McLeod missing a great chance to restore the two-goal advantage while Barking also went close with a fierce drive from AJ Haarstrup which was always rising and lifted just over the bar.

It seemed as if the Woods were going to hold off their spirited opponents, especially when Simmons went down injured on 85 minutes and was helped off looking as if they would have to play out the final stages with ten men. Yet he made a miraculous return after a few minutes and was to make a significant further impact.

Two minutes into stoppage-time, Julian Cole again showed great skills to get through the home defence and Sole pushed his powerful shot over the bar. But the shock was still to come four minutes later as Adelana was penalised for a foul out wide and picked up an unfortunate second yellow card, leaving the Woods with ten men. The resulting free-kick was pumped in and Simmons seemed to push his marker away before planting a firm header into the back of the net to level the scores.

There was hardly time to restart the game when the whistle went to end the ninety plus minutes and suddenly it was Barking in the driving seat with a man advantage. The first period of extra-time turned out to be quite cagey with Walker shooting wide again after being picked out by McGrath while the Blues best chance came when James Ness headed wide from a Simmons cross. The turning point came two minutes into the second period and was a typical solo effort from Walker as he jinked his was around three challenges around the edge of the box before firing past Sole and just inside the post.

Still Barking kept battling away but the Woods defence stayed strong and when Ness limped off it and Barking had already used all three subs, it evened things up numerically once again. From that point it was Northwood who took control, and Walker went close again before substitute Jack Hutchinson wrapped up the win with a tremendous strike from distance which Sole couldn’t keep out of the top corner despite getting a hand to it.

It was job done for Northwood, a second successive away win in the FA Youth Cup, and they now have the advantage of a home tie in the Second Qualifying Round against Clapton who have reached this stage by way of a “bye” and a walkover. Clapton’s Under 18s play in the same Eastern Junior Alliance League division as Barking, but have only played once to date, losing 3-1 to leaders AFC Hornchurch.

Report: ALAN EVANS