Following two successful trial sessions at the Heston Centre, involving a total of more than 70 players, a full-scale trial match was played at Rectory Park on Wednesday last, 2^nd October, to help with the selection of the squad for our opening Under 16 games of the 2019-20 season. 32 players were involved, divided into two squads of 16.

The squad wearing Yellow bibs, managed by Vince Purdue and Danny Gyngell, was:-

Jayden St Paul (Sandgate) and Louie Izarra (Hadley Rangers) (goalkeepers), Charlie Wilkins (West Drayton Explorers), Ryan Lewis (Sport London e Benfica), Ahmed Shahzaman (Ruislip Rangers), James Penny (Hadley Rangers), Owen Walsh (Whitton Wanderers), Florian Ada (Concorde Rangers), Darragh O’Keefe (Acton & Ealing Whistlers), Ajay Purja Pun (Sutton United), Hamza Jameel (Headstone), Ruben Doherty (Uxbridge), Rayan Atban (Magix), Anotida Mano (Hayes & Yeading United), Hosam Rous (Magix) and Frankie Major (Sandgate).

The squad wearing Orange bibs, managed by Remi Bignall and Mick Harvey was:-

Sam White (Headstone) and Patrick Niznik (Old Isleworthians) (goalkeepers), Tawheed Mayati (Magix), Marcus Ribero-Dias (Hadley Rangers), Cody Bentley (Hanwell Town), Oliver Connor (Hadley Rangers), Jahrome Evans (Hayes & Yeading United), Kaci Richard (Hanwell Town), Dylan Santana (Sport London e Benfica), Sam Rogers (Hadley Rangers), Bijay Purja Pun (Sutton United), Servett Bala (Hadley Rangers), Yasser Idriss (Headstone Manor), Jaydon Goodfellow (Acton & Ealing Whistlers), Oliver Davey (Hayes & Yeading United) and Freddie Halpin (Acton & Ealing Whistlers).

They produced an enthusiastically and skilfully contested match, which provided manager Darryl Gyngell and everyone else concerned with plenty of encouragement for the forthcoming competitive season.

The Yellow team dominated the early stages of the match and striker Ruben Doherty netted twice from close range in the opening 6 minutes They scored a third goal in the 9^th minute, when Hamza Jameel converted Florian Ada’s low cross. Hamza added his side’s fourth goal in the 14^th minute by volleying home Ruben’s pass.

The Orange team then started to get into the game and appeared to have pulled a goal back in the 20^th minute, through Yasser Idriss, following one of the best moves of the evening. A penetrating run by Sam Rogers and a pass to Bijay Purja Pun enabled the latter to set up Yasser, who blasted the ball into the top corner of the net. Unfortunately, this score was ruled out for offside.

Although play had now become a lot more even and moved rapidly from end to end, the Yellows increased their lead to 5-0 in the 39th minute, through Frankie Major, following a goalmouth scramble after a corner.

The Orange team finally got onto the scoresheet in the 43^rd minute, when a low drive by Bijay Purja Pun went through the Yellow keeper’s arms.

They netted again in the 64^th minute to make the score a more respectable 5-2, when striker Servett Bala beat the goalkeeper to a through ball.

Our thanks are due to Referee Fernando Costache and his Assistants, Nigel Hickes and Mark Sennett, who controlled the proceedings admirably and to Katy Bignall, who acted as physio to both teams.

Disappointingly our match for the Cyril Butler Trophy, planned for Wednesday next, 9^th October away to Berks and Bucks has been postponed by our opponents, due to the unavailability of coaching staff and of a suitable venue. We hope to rearrange this fixture in the coming weeks, as it was planned as an important preparation game for our programme of South East Counties Youth Championship matches.

This unscheduled delay has given our hardworking coaching team the opportunity of watching some more club matches, before finalising the selection of our squad.

Manager Darryl Gyngell emphasised to the players, in his briefing after Wednesday’s match, that omission from the initially selected squad did not necessarily mean that they would be excluded for the season. The squad would be reviewed for each match.

Our first South East Counties Youth Championship match is scheduled for Sunday, 24^th November at Rectory Park, against the Amateur Football Alliance. Kick off will be at 1pm.

For a full selection of photography, courtesy of Chris Benn