BEDFORDSHIRE JUNIOR CHALLENGE CUP 1ST ROUND
KINGS AFC 2 - 1 SANDY RESERVES
Saturday 29th September 2007
Kings: Barber, Fordham (Greene), Loosemore, Cain, Dyer, Sacbuker, Wilson, M.Whelan, J.Clements (Haywood), Morgan (Minty), Tomlin
Half time score: 1-1
Kings AFC Scorers: Tomlin, M.Whelan
Bookings: None
MAN OF THE MATCH MARK LOOSEMORE
A break from the league after three consecutive wins brought Kings up against a team two divisions and 29 places above them in the Bedfordshire Junior County Cup – last year’s finalists Sandy Reserves.
The match began disastrously for Kings, straight from the Kings kick off, Sandy quickly gained possession and a long ball over the top, similar to their reserve side’s tactics last week, caught out Dyer and Cain at the back and with Barber choosing to stay on his line, the Sandy forward ran on to a 1 on 1 with the keeper and slotted the ball home for 0 – 1
This had two different effects on the teams, it made Sandy think they were going to walk this and Kings thought … not likely.
From the second kick off, Kings began various attacks, whilst the defense was being marshaled well by new boy Jeff, making his debut alongside Cain. Neither side created many openings in the opening minutes, however good interplay between Wilson and Skolo, fed the ball to Morgan who sent Clements through for a 1 on 1. Despite Clements doing everything right, the keeper made a quality save.
Tomlin and Loosemore continued where they left off last week, with solid play and bite in the tackles, playing the ball forward to Morgan, who couldn’t quite find Loosemore with the return ball into the box.
Kings now began to take a hold of game with Wilson and Skolo starting to get a grip of the midfield despite being outnumbered.
A free kick from about 25 yards was taken by Sacbuker but it went sailing over the bar. However Skolo soon made amends with a serious of corners that created missed chances for Clements and Dyer.
At the back, Fordham and Loosemore were dealing well with their opposite numbers, with Cain marking tightly the dangerous Sandy striker, often forcing the forward down the wings into a blind alley where opportunities were few and far between.
With minutes of the first half left, Fordham, Morgan and Scholes linked up well, with the ball ended up at Wilson’s feet who sent Kewell, who had been starved of the ball for much of the half, down the right flank and sent a pin point cross for Marcus to volley home at the back post. 1 – 1, and a superb time to score just before the half time whistle blew.
An excellent half time team talk, and tactical alteration as Marcus came up with the idea for Morgan, who had been man-marked all game to drag the giant defender to the right wing and swap with Kewell. Within 5 minutes we implemented the plan and Kewell took control of the ball after a lovely through ball by Wilson and 1 on 1 with the keeper, slotted the ball home to give Kings the advantage. 2 - 1.
The second half continued well for Kings. Marcus continued to wreak havoc down the left hand side and was unlucky not to get a penalty after being hacked down by a Sandy player.
Some aggressive, sometimes blatant fouls began to creep into the game, as frustration by the side 2 divisions above their opponents began to show. Particularly as two appeals for penalties were turned down by the referee. A free kick was awarded to Kings and Skolo took it quickly and with all his vision picked Wilson out who had a chance to score, but shot narrowly wide with his left foot.
However this didn’t affect Kings, with Clements winning another free kick on the break and this time Marcus smashing the ball high over the bar. Jeff and Cain however were excellent at the other end and gave a basis of assurance to the team with Barber snuffing out any lose ball that came his way.
Loosemore was also in fine form dominating his opposite number and added an additional attacking option with his speed and power. He linked up superbly well with Marcus down the wing and set up Clements who had a blocked shot from about 12 yards.
As the half wore on, club Captain Adam Haywood made a surprise return upfront for 15 minutes and Chris Greene came on at right back to replace Clements and Fordham respectively. Adam had an immediate effect with Morgan sending him on a run to round the keeper and from an acute angle passed the ball back to Marcus who shot narrowly wide.
Kewell was getting into the game more and more and after a brilliant interception by Cain, laid the ball off to Morgan who again sent him off to bear down on the keeper but this time some how the effort was saved.
Kings continued to search for the killer goal on the break with Kewell and Greene having further shots on goal, with both efforts going wide. In the final minutes of the game, Minty came on for Morgan who has an immediate clearance to make from within the Kings area to stop a Sandy player from getting a shot off.
As the clock ticked down Haywood almost made the most of a poor Sandy goal kick by smashing the ball just wide of the upright from 25 yards, and a final flurry of shot opportunities from Kewell, Haywood and a glaring miss from Minty meant the game remained 2-1 and despite missing those late chances Kings must be delighted to have taken such a huge scalp.
They will face division 2 side Newnham Athletic in the next round.
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