FIXTURE:
LEATHERHEAD YOUTH v EPSOM EAGLES
COMPETITION:
U18 YOUTH
DATE:
SUN 24JAN10
LEATHERHEAD YOUTH 6 –
EPSOM EAGLES 0
Sunday’s
postponed County Cup tie was the first match Leatherhead had played since
defeating Hook Youth in the 2nd round of the same competition way
back on December 13th but any prospect Epsom Eagles may have had of
adding to the list of upsets on ‘cup weekend’ were soon dashed...
Leatherhead
started slowly as could be expected after such a long lay-off but their 1st
shot on goal after 4 minutes settled them down and a couple of minutes later
the influential Ross Salisbury in central midfield broke through the heart of
Epsom’s defence and almost walked the ball into the net.
The
home team were now dominating the play and looking very comfortable on the
ball. With patient build up accros the back four and
their midfield starting to inject pace into the play it was only a matter of
time before this fluid movement produced the 1st goal.
The
opener actually came in the 8th minute when Dave Burton broke down
the right and put a near perfect cross into the box for Paul Moran to side foot
the ball into the net from 10 yards.
You
certainly could not fault Epsom for effort but from this early stage it was
obvious they were always going to be chasing the game and struggle against a
Leatherhead team who were technically far superior. Just 4 minutes after the 1st
goal a superb solo run from Leatherhead’s powerful striker Lewis Afflick, this time down the left, produced their second.
Another
good move down the left on 15 minutes saw Jeff ‘Twinny’
Osei-Bonsu come close to adding a third but his
effort skimmed the cross bar with Epsom’s keeper stranded. Three minutes later
though it was 3-0 when Kieran Lunn calmly converted
an Afflick cross and the result was now all but
inevitable...
Leatherhead
continued to press forward at every opportunity and a precision through ball
from Moran on 28 minutes would have produced another goal for Lunn but for a superb athletic save from the Epsom
keeper...
The
away team’s closest attempt of the half came after 30 minutes when a long range
effort from their lively no. 11 went just over the bar, but with Leatherhead so
comfortable on the ball and pushing forward almost at will the crowd were
expecting more first half goals. They came very close with Lunn
rattling the bar after another great run from Afflick
down the right, then shortly after a mazy run from ‘Twinny’ down the left ended with him putting his
shot just wide of the far post.
A
collision between
The
beginning of the second half was a bit tighter and whilst Leatherhead always
looked very assured and comfortable on the ball some of the fluidity of the 1st
half play was missing for the 1st 20 minutes as they appeared to be
in ‘cruise control’...
A
long range free kick in the 68th minute proved to be the closest
Epsom would come to scoring. This however only served as the jolt the home side
needed step up a gear and start forcing the game again with their full backs
pushing forward and midfield upping the tempo of the match to the levels of the
1st half.
Afflick almost immediately added a 4th goal when he
turned sharply leaving the Epsom defence in his wake but his shot hit the
inside of a post and Epsom were fortunate to scramble the rebound clear. The
crowd didn’t have to wait long for the 4th though with
With
Leatherhead now playing at pace their superiority was sure to bring more goals
and on 74 minutes
With
the game secure Leatherhead made some changes to their line up and shape but
still remained in total control of the game. Keeper Lee Shipp pulled off a good
save from Epsom’s no. 6 in the 78th minute and 3 corners followed
but these were easily dealt with by Leatherhead’s reshaped defence who were
determined to keep clean sheet.
The
last quarter of an hour saw the home team completely dominant and pressing for
more goals, their 6th eventually coming after 81 minutes when Afflick made a another strong run from deep, played a short
1-2 with ‘Twinny’ and finished neatly in the far corner.
Afflick then went agonisingly close to completing his
hat-trick with 2 minutes remaining but a strong header from a Lunn cross went just over the bar...
This
was probably just the game Leatherhead needed after not playing for 6 weeks.
The opposition were not one of the stronger teams they will face this season
but it was a very accomplished performance that provided six goals and could
easily have produce more... There were many good individual performances with
the Man of the match award going to Lewis Afflick who
not only scored two good goals but was a constant threat to the Epsom defence
all afternoon with his tireless running and good link up play.
Next
up in the
Team:
Lee Shipp, Zach Jacquart
(rep 75), Andy Higgins, Josh Earl (rep 66), Jeremy Osei-Bonsu, Paul Moran, Dave Burton, Ross
Salisbury (rep 75), Kieran Lunn, Lewis Afflick, Jeff Osei-Bonsu
Subs:
Kyle Miranda (66) Tom Lindfalk (75)
Scorers:
Afflick (2),
Next
fixture:
LEATHERHEAD
YOUTH vs WOKING (RYLC)
THURSDAY
28JAN10 – K.O.