Amateur Football Alliance Middlesex and Essex Senior Cup Fourth Round

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Amateur Football Alliance Senior Cup Fourth Round

Parkfield 0 Old Meadonians 3

Old Meadonians eased smoothly into the quarter finals of the A.F.A. Senior Cup with a convincing win over A.F.C. premier colleagues, Parkfield, on Saturday, to take their goal tally to twenty-four against one in an unbeaten seven match purple patch, leaving their burgeoning squad closing in on all three cups they’re pursuing.

On a muddy short and uneven pitch super-imposed on Old Millhillians’ rugby pitch at Harrow it was difficult to play football but Meads’ speedy flankers were soon carving out chances for the home keeper to be instantly called upon to save from striker Ed Glover in the first minute. With more accurate crossing the visitors could have been at least two up in the first ten as mid-fielder Will Gerrish was just wide from twenty five yards.

The deadlock was broken on the half hour when Peter Eguae cut in from the left mid-field in a marauding run and, when his fierce cross shot proved too hot for the keeper to hold, striker Craig Jones pounced for Meads’ first. From that moment till half-time Parkfield mounted a mini-siege, winning three corners in quick succession but the visitors’ defence withstood firmly until the interval. The half-time talk was a hushed affair but, apparently, the order of the day, quietly but cogently exhorted of the squad, was the patient administering of the same medicine as during the first half.

Such was the collective will to win, however, that on the restart Meads repeated their opening blitzkrieg of the first half but were again unlucky not to notch two more before the taste of jaffas had faded from their hosts’ mouths. There was to be no respite for Parkfield though as, on the hour, Jones produced a quality goal to bring their heads down, speeding in from the left to lance the ball low into the near corner. With ten minutes to go Eguae won a free-kick forty yards out on the left and right back Jordan Mace stole round the back to deflect in sub Misha Mantel’s in-swinging kick. Even then the action was not over. Just to show how important it was to keep a clean sheet, Mantel’s determination was to the fore in the dying seconds. Beaten to the punch on the wing, he steamed back across the goal in pursuit of the cross to hook the ball away as the resultant shot was crossing the line. Peter Eguae whose pace had been instrumental in opening up Parkfield’s defence was named MoM.

Squad: Robinson, Mace, Pointer, Thompson, Quinn, Brennan, Chapman, Gerrish, Eguae, Glover, Jones, Mantel, Shea, Bright.

 

January 9, 2013