VCOMPETITION: SURREY U18 COUNTY CUP
DATE: SUN 7th FEB 2010
LEATHERHEAD YOUTH 2 – 4 KINGSTONIAN YOUTH
Leatherhead suffered a “bad day at the office” and that coupled with an equally bad day for the referee resulted in them exiting the county cup against a Kingstonian team who took their chances well on the day but whom they should have beaten comfortably...
The early exchanges were quite even with neither team creating a clear chance until 15 minutes when Dave Burton could have opened the scoring but didn’t connect cleanly with his volleyed attempt from 8 yards.
Leatherhead were getting the better of the Kingstonian midfield and forced 3 corners in quick succession but could not find the incisive final ball required and after 26 minutes Kingstonians took the lead when their no. 11 capitalised on some poor defensive work down the home side’s right.
A spell of Leatherhead pressure followed and Burton and Paul Moran both had half chances but the Kingstonian defence stood firm. On 42 minutes a good ball in from Max Bajeux found Kieran Lunn unmarked inside the six yard box but his flick was well saved by Kingstonians keeper. Lunn had the only other clear cut chance of the first half but was denied by a well timed tackle from K’s centre back...
The home team started the second half positively and forced the Kingstonian defence into a scrambled goal line clearance after 47minutes but as in the first half they rarely produced the sharp passing game they are capable of...
Substitute Lewis Afflick was starting to make an impact and following a strong run down the right his cross-shot was hurriedly put out for a corner by K’s on 48 minutes. Only half chances followed until, 10 minutes into the half, Ross Salisbury turned his marker on the right hand side of the box cut inside on his left and was brought down inside the area for the first of three clear penalty incidents, but the referee was presumably unsighted?
Within a minute Kingstonians made it 0-2 when Leatherheads keeper, Lee Shipp received a poor back pass and only managed to hit his clearance against the opposition no. 9 and the ball rebounded in to the net...
Leatherhead’s response was immediate and 90 seconds later Dave Burton had pulled one back with a strong header over the visitors keeper, 1-2. They could well have been level with a second clear penalty incident that saw a long range effort blocked by the hand of a Kingstonian defender who had raised both arms but not today!!!
Leatherhead pushed forward for the equaliser but without any real conviction and their usually solid defence was breached again after 65 minutes when Kingstonians forward placed a lob over Shipp but just under the bar... 1-3
Again the home team responded strongly and pushed K’s back and should have had a penalty on 67 minutes when Bajeux broke in to the box only to be crudely brought down from behind in the clearest of the ‘3 penalty incidents’ that even the visiting fans could not believe the referee failed to award!!! To Leatherheads credit they reacted to the injustice in a positive way and continued to press forward but were not really creating any clear cut chances apart from a good long range effort from Afflick that the visiting keeper just managed to parry over the bar...
The 85th minute unfortunately saw Leatherhead fluff their lines again at the back when Shipp’s clearance rebounded of his own defender into the path of the grateful Kingstonian winger who slotted home from short range, 1-4
The last five minutes saw Leatherhead pile on the pressure and they went close with a long range effort from Lunn before a great cross from the right by Afflick was met by Salisbury who headed home strongly on 87 minutes, 2-4. From the restart the home side were immediately on the offensive and a good free kick from Moran in the 89th minute forced the 1st of 3 corners in the last few minutes but they were unable to force the ball in...
So Leatherhead were left ruing their ‘Bad Day’ which had cost them a place in the semi finals... They were ‘unfortunate’ to say the least not to be awarded at least two penalties which would have changed the course of the game but it was in truth a well below par performance and they only have themselves to blame for that...
MOM – not awarded!
Team: Lee Shipp, Zach Jacquart (rep 70), Andy Higgins, Josh Earl, Jeremy Osei-Bonsu, Paul Moran, Dave Burton (rep 76), Ross Salisbury, Kieran Lunn, Max Bajeux, Jeff Osei-Bonsu (rep 45)
Subs: Lewis Afflick (45), Robbie Lake, Tom Lindfalk (70), Josh Smith (76)
Report by David Hedges