Posted by Claire on September 28, 2007, 2:46 pm Games between Fleet and Oxford City seem guaranteed to produce goals at the moment – 12 in the extraordinary Youth Cup game a year ago, 6 in the errea Cup contest the night before this match, and another 8 here. Perhaps this was not as good a game as last year’s astonishing 6-6 draw which City won on penalties – there was little in the way of fluent football and the play was scrappy. However, it was a nail-biting contest where the result was always in doubt, and Fleet showed great determination and skill in what must have been a very difficult game for them after the recent tragic death of youth team player Dan Ayre, in memory of whom there was a minute’s applause before the match. Cup nerves seemed to dominate the opening exchanges and there was little pattern to the play until Fleet took the lead in the 13th minute with a well-taken shot after the City defence had given the ball away. City were back on level terms within 3 minutes when Jon Gotch fired home from 10 yards after being set up by Mark Bell. Fleet tried to take the initiative but were too often caught offside, and City increased their lead in the 27th minute. Corey Forbes, 25 yards out, volleyed an unstoppable shot into the top corner. Fleet made it 2-2 in the 35th minute with a close-range shot following a corner. City brought on Ashley Jones at half-time and their midfield started to look more cohesive. Bell, showing no ill-effects from playing three-quarters of the first team fixture the previous night, started to have more influence on the game, and put City in front with a rasping shot after he had beaten his marker. Five minutes later Bell added a well-struck penalty after he had been pulled back when about to shoot. This meant that he had scored a total of seven goals (four on his 18th birthday last Saturday) in five days for three teams (Nomads, first team and Youth). City should now have been in the driving seat, but Fleet were determined to retrieve the game and their marvellously combative number 4 reduced the deficit with a storming run from halfway and a rocket shot from well outside the area. City were under pressure and there were some fierce tackles, but some sensible refereeing kept the game flowing. City restored their two-goal cushion when Richard Norris reacted first to drive home the rebound when the Fleet keeper could only parry a fierce Forbes shot. Even then the result remained in doubt, as Fleet threw everything at City and several last-ditch clearances were necessary to ensure the win. Perhaps not a game for the purist – sometimes teamwork went out of the window – but it was classic cup-tie football in an absorbing, unpredictable contest. In the end it was Bell’s experience and class that decided the game, but every player on the pitch deserves praise. However, it is City who go through to face Buckingham Town away in the next round. Team: Alex Williams, Padraic Folan, Simon Reeves (sub Rhys Denton 78 min), Zac Lafford, Lewis Colwell – Dominic Bruno (sub Ashley Jones ht), Mark Bell (sub Richard Higgs 84), Lawrence El - Kassir, Jon Gotch – Richard Norris, Corey Forbes. Unused subs: Tom Holmes, Kallum Conlon.
FA Youth Cup 1st Qualifying Round Wednesday 26 September 2007
FLEET TOWN YOUTH (2) 3
OXFORD CITY YOUTH (2) 5 (Gotch 16, Forbes 27, Bell 49, pen 54, Norris 72)
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