BRITISH AIRWAYS REACH PREMIER CUP SEMI-FINAL
Two games to complete the Quarter Finals of the Middlesex Premier Cup were staged on Tuesday last, 25th January, and our roving team of Chris Benn (photographer) and Jim Taylor (reporter) attended the one at The Orchard, Bedfont between British Airways and Harefield United Reserves.
This tie, involving an unusual match up of opponents, from Division One of the Combined Counties League and the Premier Division of the Herts Senior County League respectively, produced an interesting and well contested struggle for supremacy.
British Airways had qualified for this round with a 5-3 home victory over PFC Victoria, from the Middlesex County League Premier Division while Harefield United Reserves had beaten Combined Counties League Division One side, Enfield Borough 3-2 away from home.
The defences were on top in the first half of this match and neither goalkeeper was unduly troubled. The visitors took the initiative in the early stages. Ben Stallard made a good run but fired across goal. Tashan Jordan’s first time shot from a corner was taken high by keeper Ben Clargo. Ben then dealt with a high deflection off of a defender from Zak Jackson’s shot. At the other end, United’s Reece Mallett pushed out a high shot from Kieran O’Donoghue.
In the 25th minute, Reece received a caution when he had handled the ball, after leaving his penalty area to intercept Joel Onu. The resulting free kick, taken by Kieran O’Donoghue, was cleared.
Harefield continued to do most of the attacking and Ben Clargo saved low down from Courtney Austin and also caught a snap shot from Zak Jackson. Ralique Lawrence drove narrowly wide and then the keeper leapt to save his shot, which was directed towards the top corner of the net.
As the interval approached, Reece Mallett again left his area to make an interception and safely headed clear.
Half time score: British Airways 0 Harefield United Reserves 0
British Airways had some more defending to do early in the second half and repelled several Harefield attacks. However, they took the lead 18 minutes after the interval, through a low shot by Dylan Hern, who had brought a good save from Reece Mallett a few minutes earlier.
Now the goals briefly started to flow. 5 minutes later, BA doubled their lead with another low shot, this time from Tyler Hayles. Then, 2 minutes after that, Tashan Jordan netted for Harefield, to make the score 2-1.
For the final period of the game, Harefield continued to press but could not break through the home defence. This aggression inevitably gave British Airways opportunities to mount counter attacks and they took one of them, when Callum Cohen converted a penalty in the 80th minute, following a blatant piece of shirt tugging. They failed to take some other late scoring opportunities.
The match was efficiently controlled by Referee Paul Savva and his team of extremely experienced Assistant Referees.
Final Score: British Airways 3 Harefield United Reserves 1
BRITISH AIRWAYS: Ben Clargo, George Smith (Spencer Maw 53 mins), Josh Quadry, Charlie Rose, Harry Tubb (capt) (Joseph Okusaga 37), Peter Parfitt, Kieran O’Donoghue, Callum Cohen, Joel Onu (Aaron Fraser 87), Tyler Hayles and Dylan Hern.
Unused substitutes: Danish Syed Ali and Leo Sery.
HAREFIELD UNITED RESERVES: Reece Mallett, Shane Thomas, Ross Shorto, James Hurst (capt), Romario Warburton-Rowe, Tashan Jordan, Benjamin Stallard, Callum Neal (Ryan Murao 40, Donnell West 57), Courtney Austin (Kenny Appiah 73) , Ralique Lawrence and Zak Jackson.
Unused substitutes: Daren Till and Oliver Lewis.
REFEREE: Paul Savva ASSISTANT REFEREES: Steve Conway and Mark Sennett.
The attendance was 26.
OTHER QUARTER FINAL RESULTS:
|
AFC Hayes |
0 |
vs |
1 |
Rayners Lane |
|
Bedfont & Feltham |
3 |
vs |
0 |
Pitshanger Dynamo |
|
Cricklewood Wanderers |
1 |
vs |
3 |
FC Deportivo Galicia |
These results leave us with a Semi-Final draw made up entirely of teams plying their trade in the Combined Counties Division One, in what should be a competitive end to this season’s competition.
SEMI-FINALS DRAW (to be played during week commencing 21st February)
Rayners Lane v FC Deportivo Galicia
Bedfont & Feltham v British Airways
As always we thanks Chris and Jim for giving us their valuable time on what was a cold Tuesday evening by the airport. Our dynamic duo have selected a range of their favourite images which have been displayed throughout this report, with a full album of photography available courtesy of Chris Benn.
