A physical battle in our latest Cup game, against Young Whitefield, in which both goalkeepers deserved praise. Ultimately, we prevailed 3-1 to move to the top of our group.
Young Whitefield began strongly, pressing from the front, but it was us who took the lead, Gary playing the ball to Yaakov, who waited for the opportune moment before lifting the ball high into the net. Young Whitefield came back quickly, though, capitalising on a loose ball to net the equaliser.
This set the pattern for the first half, with both defences made to work hard. Yaakov, Aron and Ryan all had good chances, particularly a shot that rolled across the line and hit the post. At the other end, Darren and Gary found themselves in a real battle, with Jay in goal saving anything that got through, including a shot that took a double deflection.
Yossi came on and made some good runs, and Akiva made his debut, holding the ball up well. He did create a great chance for Ryan, intercepting a goal-kick, but the goalkeeper recovered to push the attempt onto the bar.
Having a strong bench meant we could try different things, with Mordy coming on at half-time to replace Akiva. We continued to create chances: Yossi attempting to find Ryan with a through-ball, Darren with a good ball to Mordy that was tipped around the post, and Ryan carrying the ball well but being forced wide, with the opportunity rolling agonisingly wide, just some of them.
Yaakov was then fouled on the edge of the area, and from the free-kick, Mordy moved the ball on to Yaakov, who finished in a similar fashion to his first goal.
Young Whitefield were not done yet, but Darren and Gary, along with Jay, continued to frustrate them. It meant that we had opportunities to catch them on the break, but a mix of brilliant goalkeeping and missed chances meant that there were still some nerves going into the final few minutes. Mordy was unlucky to just stray into the area before finishing well, but finally Aron, who had earlier hit the post, won the ball back twice to give himself space and time and give us breathing space as a fantastic game came to an end.
Results:
CUP
Vine Street 4-8 Adas Yisroel
Ohel Shalom 1-5 Shrubs
LBM 3-7 Windsor Road
Young Whitefield 1-3 Heaton Park