Middlesex Cup – 2nd RND. This was a great win 3-1 in difficult weather conditions, particularly in the 2nd half. It was a game we largely controlled from the start without being at our fluid best. The horrendous weather with torrential down pour in the 2nd half also was challenging. But the boys braved the conditions and there were some good standout performances. The first half started well, we spent large periods of time in their half creating good chances. Ryan and Gaby both had good shots before early on and Youngs had a couple of counter attacks which we defended well. But we were the stronger team and soon on 15 mins Giacomo was through taking a shot early which hit the far left post and deserved a goal which Ryan was able to provide with the rebound. We continued to dominate and were creating some good movement. There were good pieces of skill shown by Shreyansh, Nikoloz and Giacomo and it was great to see the team try and play. A great chance fell to Shreyansh on 17mins which should have made it 2 but their keeper made a super save from 2 yards. We made several solid tackles and interceptions and Ben also was alert reducing Youngs to a single shot of any note in the first half. Nathan, Noah and Orin all put in good tackles finding themselves quite high up the pitch which was a reflection of the teams confidence and also ability to get back if needed. And right at the end of the first half Harrison cam eon for Elson to take a free kick but he only managed to hit the wall to end the first half 1-0 to HSM. We deserved to be further ahead and had dominated without being quite as creative as we can be. After second half substitutions, we started the 2nd half very well and a good shot from Giacomo to the near post was saved for a corner which was poorly taken unfortunately. But we kept pressing high up the pitch and wouldn’t let Youngs get out of their half and we gained possession again which went to HSM for a corner. Noah put in one of his long throws from the right which came to Harrison who finished well with his left foot to the far left. On 40 minutes Giacomo made a super pass to Harrison who found himself 1 on 1 with the keeper but could find his way around him and the chance was missed for a 3rd. Ben made his first touch of the ball in the second half with a timely intercepted clearance on 46 minutes. But soon after from a throw taken by Noah we found ourselves on the back foot and a neat through ball to their striker who managed to get a shot away high beyond Ben’s reach. His second touch of the half was lifting the ball out of the goal. We continued to dominate though and never really looked like we were going to lose this game. We created more chances and did make some good penetrating passes and crosses into the box but our final finish was not there. But we continued to press high up the pitch and a couple of chances fell to Shay before the rain started to really come down midway through the 2nd Half. Giacomo’s pace was becoming difficult to handle and he made several good openings taking advantage of the weather. Then on 61 minutes a free kick was awarded which Giacomo took really well forcing the keeper to save but could only push it into the path for George found himself on the end for a simple finish from inside the 6 yard box to make it 3-1 to HSM. Ben soon after on 63 minutes had his 3rd and final touch of the half coming out to collect a through ball on 63 minutes. We then went on to have a few more shots but the game ended as a 3-1 win. It was a game we dominated from the start creating over 20 chances but managed to score 3 goals from good pressing. We only probably had 2 other very clear chances but despite this our possession and movement was still very positive. Defensively we were very strong. Ben only had half a dozen touches of the ball the whole game which shows how strong we were keeping the ball and pressing high up the pitch. Gaby did well on his birthday. Defensively we were strong and Ben was only beaten by a super long range strike. George, Ryan and Harrison for their goals all did well and Giacomo was man of the match for influencing the game with two assists and lots of pressure high up the pitch.
