18/11/2007 away (Mill Hill) v A C Finchley (Select) South (Herts County Cup 2nd Round)

Lost 2 – 5. Goals for: Michael (4), Joe (44)
Goals Against (2), (3), (19), (67), (88)

Team: Will, Joe, Brad, Matt, Tom; Cameron, Greg, Dicko, Richard; Paul, Michael. Subs: James, Ross.

Well I suppose the unbeaten run had to end sometime! The second round of this season’s Under 18 County Cup took us to into north London to Mill Hill Park to play another team from the Watford league. Fortunately A C Finchley turned out to be a far friendlier team than our opponents in the last round.

On a miserable cold and windy morning and on an awful pitch, where the grass badly needed cutting, we got off to a terrible start. Inside 3 minutes we had conceded two goals through poor defending, especially the second goal. We then capped a crazy first five minutes by immediately grabbing a goal back ourselves, when Michael got a slight touch on Joe’s free kick to divert past the keeper.

The game then settled down and both sides played some lovely passing football. A well taken goal gave AC Finchley a 3-1 lead, but we continued to compete and play ourselves. Just before half time, Joe scored our solo goal of the season so far. He went on a jinking run, which must have taken him past at least 4 opponents, and then kept his composure to smash a great finish into the bottom corner of the net. 3-2 down at half time, but the lads were buzzing and enjoying the game and felt that they had a chance to retrieve the result.

The early part of the second half again saw some cracking football from both sides as it went from end to end. It was great to see two sides intent on simply playing football. Will made some good saves for us and Cameron cleared off the line from a corner. At the other end the Finchley keeper made some fine saves, particularly from a curling effort by Greg. Tom put a great chance just wide, whilst Cameron hit the bar and James hit the post. We always looked dangerous when attacking.

Eventually, the Finchley striker scored the vital fourth goal with another great run and finish. This effectively ended the contest. A very late fifth gave the score line a slightly flattering look to it. Nevertheless we had been beaten by a very good footballing side and certainly the best team we have faced for a long time.

None of us like losing, but if you have to it is better to lose in the way we did in this match. The friendliness and mutual respect shown by the two sets of players and the management and supporters of both clubs throughout and at the end of the match was great to see.

Each and every player played superbly in this game. Let’s hope we can take heart from our excellent performance and continue to defend our lead at the top of the league. Time to concentrate on the league (and the league cup)!

Mark 20/11/2007