Do it all with style ....
http://www.vipcoachhire.co.uk/assets/pdfs/vip-land-yachts.pdf
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Do it all with style .... http://www.vipcoachhire.co.uk/assets/pdfs/vip-land-yachts.pdf London Cup Semi Final U/13
Prostar FC 0 – 9 Buckhurst Hill FC Royals On a day where the weather was Ark building and the pitch was more suited to ducks Buckhurst Hill Royals and Prostar lined up for the semi-final of the U13 London cup. The conditions were very tough with wind, rain and mud but even so the gaffer was determined to follow the normal routine and defence coach Dean Johnson and Russell ensured that the boys undertook their normal 60 minute warm up routine.
As it was the semi Final the London FA had provided a qualified ref and linesman ( I refuse to move with the times and call them assistant refs). Both teams lined up on a heavy pitch with the wind and rain sleeting into the faces of the crowd. Straight from the kick off the Managers preparation showed and within the first 30 seconds Redhead won the ball in midfield and played a slide rule pass to split the Prostar defence and find Brookes who raced into the area on the left and finished with style 0-1 , a fantastic start and the boys looked up for the game and determined to take Buckhurst Hill into the final of this competition for only the second time in the whole clubs history.
Within 5 minutes Hill found themselves two nil up, Johnson won the ball in midfield looked up and saw Dackombe free on the left a cultured pass find him and Dackombe cuts inside from the wing skips past two defenders and buries the ball in the bottom corner, a lovely goal 0-2.
Johnson and Dackombe combined again, with Johnson picking the ball up on the edge of the area and playing the ball out to Dackombe on the right wing who checks finds Johnson moving into space on the edge of the area, Dackombe plays the ball back to Johnson who sees the keeper slightly of his line and floats the ball over his head from 20 yards into the top left corner 0-3.
Prostar continued to be competitive and a flying two footed tackle from the Prostar midfielder, saw Johnson lucky to avoid an injury, the ref rightly deemed it dangerous and the Prostar lad picked up an early yellow card.
Hill were starting to dominate the game and despite the poor conditions they were still trying to play nice football rather than reverting to the long ball, Prostar were equally determined to try and play rather than hoof but Hill were starting to get a stranglehold on the game. A corner won on the left was wiped into the near post by Brookes, H Barret flicked the ball on and Jonson’s outstretched boot just couldn’t get the required touch with the goal at his mercy on the back post.
On 29 minutes there was some lovely interplay by Hill down the right, Johnson plays a one two with H Barret who releases Dackombe down the wing but his cross floats behind the goal. Some lovely football.
On 30 minutes Prostar won a corner on the right which was whipped in under the Hill bar with pace but was well cleared by the defence who looked solid and well organised all game and rarely in any trouble.
Dackombe who is having his best performance of the season breaks down the right pulls the ball back to Johnson who arriving from midfield hits a wonderful shot from 25 yards which just goes over the top of the bar.
Into injury time Redhead picked the ball up in midfield turned his man and plays a great ball into Brooks who is free in the area his first touch is excellent but his shot is well saved by the Prostar keeper.
The ref blows for the end of the first half that had seen Hill totally dominant, committed all over the pitch, winning the ball in the 50/50’s and playing some cultured football in appalling conditions. But Prostar are a good side and even at 0-3 the Manager is still a little nervous.
The second half kicks off and the managers nerves are soon settled as inside the first minute Johnson wins the ball in midfield plays the ball out to Redhead whose cross finds Emerson arriving unmarked in front of goal, he volleys it and both the ball and the player end up in the back of the net 0-4.
Five minutes in and a through ball by Prostar, finds their forward who is racing through towards the middle of the area when H Barrett arrives to cover and performs a fabulous sliding tackle to clear the danger.
Three minutes later Brookes finds Emerson who finishes with aplomb in the bottom right to make it 0-5, Hill’s play has been great all game but the quality of the finishing has been top class.
16 minutes into the second half Emerson chests the ball back to the competitive Harris in midfield who splits the Prostar defence with a sublime through ball Redhead skips past the defence and has beaten the keeper but as he is about to bury the ball it bobbles away from him and he is denied what would have been a fabulous footballing goal.
Dackombe picks the ball up just inside his own half and flies down the left wing, outstripping the Prostar right back for pace, he cuts inside and looks set to shoot when the lines man flags offside, a crass decision by a qualified linesman as he had not passed the ball and both sets of spectators remained bemused. Hill were not to be robbed though and from the resultant free kick Foster wins the ball in midfield and plays it out to Dackombe who outpaced the defence and as the keeper rushed out he slid the ball across to Redhead who was not to be robbed this time and slotted home to make it 0-6.
Foster plays a little through ball to Eve playing at centre forward who knocks it out to Redhead whose shot goes just past the post with the keeper beaten.
A couple of minutes later Ewing finds himself through on goal in the area, the covering defender bundles him to the ground and the Ref has no hesitation, penalty. The ref judges that it was a definite goal scoring opportunity and sends the Prostar player off. Johnson puts the ball on the spot and coolly slots it home 0-7. The red card seemed a little harsh at this age with the game already well beyond Prostar’s grasp. A minute later Foster wins the ball plays a nice little ball to Johnson, whose lovely pass out to Dackombe gives him the space to deliver a wonderful ball into the centre Redhead finishes 0-8. Fabulous football. Just before the final whistle Foster wins the ball in midfield, plays a one two with Johnson and finds Ewing on the left, who plays a quality ball into Eve who puts the ball in the net just before the final whistle. 0-9 A fabulous display of high quality football from Hill in testing conditions keeping the ball on the floor and passing and moving all over the pitch. Hill were just too good for Prostar today and move into the final of the London Cup for only the 2nd time in the clubs history and hoping to be the first Buckhurst Hill side at any level to lift a London cup in over 25 years. The gaffer was particularly pleased, as after coaching for 28 years this will be the first time he has taken a team into a county cup final. Asked for a quote all he could say was wet wet wet, which summed up the conditions, but sublime was more fitting for Hill’s performance, first to everything, rock solid at the back and clinical up front with some exquisite passing all over the pitch. The final awaits on 2nd March at Mile End stadium, if we play like we did today it will take a very good side to keep our hands off the cup.
Not surprised by the news that our EJA fixture away to Woodbridge has been postponed due to flooding for 19/01/2014. We now concentrate on two semi finals as follows ; LONDON COUNTY CUP 26/01/2014 away to PROSTAR EJA CHALLENGE CUP 02/02/2014 away to BISHOP STORTFORD FC Reports to follow London FA Cup Quarter Final, Sunday. 12/01/2014, played neutral venue due to waterlogged pitch at BHFC
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