U18 Match Reports

Before a decent crowd, which included the Football Association's David Barber, who had a report on the FA website by 10.00.a.m. the following morning, Staines began brightly and our defence came under early pressure and it came as little surprise when Staines took the lead in the 12th minute, although the goal was scored in slightly controversial fashion, the scorer Lyle Taylor seemingly being in an offside position when the ball was played through to him and he went on to deftly lift the ball over the advancing Ricardo Lopes into our unattended net. After this early setback we began to come more into the game and were unlucky not to draw level when a cross shot by Michael Anthony hit the post with Abi Straker in the Staines goal beaten. At the other end, Craig Farrelly who was our outstanding player on the night, made a tremendous goal line clearance after Nassie Ali's shot had beaten Ricardo.

The post again denied us an equaliser on the half hour mark after a long ball forward had put Anthony clear of the Staines back line, although it was a golden opportunity missed. A good interchange of passes with Anthony Walsh set up another chance for the hard working Antony but his shot swung right across the face of the goal. On the stroke of half time, Staines increased their lead, Ricardo failed to hold onto a low shot from a narrow angle and Taylor was on hand to prod the ball home. With Staines content to sit on their lead and defending in depth, there was very little goalmouth action in the opening stages of the second half and when we did create an opportunity, Peter Davis ignored better placed colleagues to try an ambitious chip across the keeper which sailed comfortably over the crossbar. However, with nineteen minutes remaining, Peter after losing the ball and then regaining it, tried a speculative shot from distance which seemed to wrong foot Straker and the ball went past him to put us right back into the game. Walsh curled a free kick just over the bar as we strove for the equaliser but our hopes were dashed two minutes from time when we failed to clear a corner from the left and the Staines's skipper Michael Marren headed home from close range.

Whilst the result was disappointing, there were a lot of positives to be taken from this game as we have had to rebuild our squad this season, following the departure of a group of last year's squad to North Greenford United coupled with the face that some of the stalwarts of the last couple of years, Ashley O'Halloran, Simeon Charles, Victor Osobu etc have exceeded the 18 year age limit. Other than Farrelly, Elliot Simonds, Decland Speede,Michael Antony and Peter Davis all indicated strongly that there are better things to come.

Hanwell secured their second league win of the season on a misty Halloween night. The game started brightly enough and the home team settled the quicker of the two sides, keeping the ball on the floor and probing the Town defence on either flank. Their early efforts only achieved a couple of corners that Farrell and Simmonds saw off comfortably. A pattern developed where Boro pressed, the Town defence would win the ball and play it out through midfield, who in turn would conspire to give it back so that the pattern could repeat. The only variance to this was Walsh and Power on the flanks attacking the full backs and delivering the odd cross which rarely troubled keeper Marks in the Boro goal. On 35 minutes Laurence Rispoli hit the bar with a long range snap shot. A fine run from left back McGee all the way to the by-line almost produced an opening for Davis and it was he who glaringly had the best chance of the first half when with clear sight of goal he hit the ball direct at Marks. A ghostly echo of the words "barn door" could be heard around the Middlesex stadium. The half ended as it had begun with Hanwell snuffing out a corner and both sides feeling hard done by with the 0-0 scoreline.

Both sides were more purposeful in the second half and it seems the indoor tactic was correct as Hanwell playing with a higher line upped the tempo pushing Hillingdon back. Forcing a series of corners and goal kicks it was Boro who were left to the odd breakaway that never really materialised. On 65 minutes Speede and Power earned a corner that Speede drove toward the back post where Craig Farrell rose highest and headed goalward. Davis almost on the line made his amends by getting the faintest of touches to steer the ball in for his seventh goal in as many games.

Gowers replaced Johnson to nullify a change of winger for Boro and Baldwin provided fresh legs for a tiring Rispoli as Hanwell looked for a second. Boro regained composure and pushed for an equaliser and Cox was forced into one very good fingertip save over the bar from a driven shot, and finally had the referee's protection as Coleman sought to kick him and the ball into the net. Controlling the final minutes Hanwell saw the game out for a fine away win.

Hanwell avenged the defeat by old rivals AFC Hayes in this season's opening match in a comprehensive manner. From the outset Town looked the more comfortable with the ball and Elliot Power and Anthony Walsh, with support from respective full backs, Gowers and McGee made good use of the Farm Park pitch to trouble the young looking home defence. A few tame shots by Davis, Speede and Rispoli made for a when and not if belief that the first goal for Hanwell would arrive. On 18 minutes Power forced a corner that Speede drove long and hard toward the back post Laurence Rispoli rising to head it past the keeper; a header rare enough let alone a goal.

Seizing the initiative Hanwell pressed and Anthony Walsh should have doubled the lead when he opted for power over accuracy when played in seeing his shot cannon off the crossbar. Town's second when it came was a fine linked move between the Hanwell front men. Davis with his back to goal received a bouncing pass from Simmonds and hooked it over his shoulder straight into the path of an advancing Decland who on his second touch shot low and true into the bottom left hand corner past the frozen last defender and keeper. A great finish showing good understanding between the forward players. Before half time the third and Decland's second was a more straight forward Anthony Walsh having beaten his full back and squaring, Davis beating the keeper for Speede to tap in. Walsh seeing a lot of the ball from several good passes from the Hanwell midfield and one notable diagonal pass from Simmonds at centre back.

To a man ,the home side in the second half seemed to have found another gear. The Hanwell fullbacks were now forced to defend and Simmonds and Farrel in turn had to head clear from corners. However, it was a McGee error that led to what proved to be a consolation, being dispossessed on halfway attempting to dribble. This forced the ball up in the air and into the box where Cox fatally hesitated allowing Sean Hynes time to score. Almost immediately Cox was called on again, one on one but this time he reacted smartly to a well struck Hynes shot to deny any possible comeback. From a resultant corner, Hanwell cleared up field to sub Troy Powell who carried the ball to the box where it eventually broke to Decland who stayed calm to drill his shot low and true for his hatrick. This triggered a memorable full length of the stand running celebration. Great team effort, good win and a fine individual performance by Speede.

The U18s side moved second in the East Division of the ACL after a hard fought third away victory on the bounce. Town fielded the same side as the previous week save for Lopes replacing Cox in goal but it was the home side who had the better of the early play. Hanwell old boy NIco Coleman catching the eye for the Home side. Simmonds and Farrell at the back became stretched early on and although Lopes in goal was called upon to pluck two or three high crosses CSP only forced one chance of note. Fidel Walker was played through and despite it being harder to miss than score he shot straight and powerfully at Lopes who took the full force of the impact but managed to hold onto the ball. This galvanised the midfield with (Chris) Walsh being more effective winning the ball as Hanwell forced the play up the pitch.

Hanwell still looked dangerous and McGee at full back managed to get forward before making a trademark mazy dribble to the by-line before pulling the ball to Speede whose shot rebounded off the bar to Power whose pass found Davis who shot inches wide. Minutes later Decland wrapped up the game with his fifth goal in two games, cutting in from the left powering a shot straight over the helpless McNeill. Hussein replaced Gowers as Hanwell comfortably saw out the final few minutes on the coldest of nights but with the warmest of results having scored eight goals in the last three outings conceding only once.

It is the most tired of football clichés; a game of two halves. Three goals to the good at half time, all Harrow Boro had to do was simply keep the ball for 45 minutes to record an emphatic away win. The first ten or fifteen minutes saw Hanwell knocking the ball around comfortably without creating any real goal scoring opportunities. The team was very quiet and looked like a side playing only its second game this year. A through ball was played to the Samuel Oluuafemi with only the onrushing Ricardo to beat. He, misjudging his area, handled the attempted lob resulting in a free kick on the edge of the box but he was lucky to remain on the pitch receiving only a yellow card the assistant referee adjudging another defender within distance to have prevented a goal. Arguably justice was done when the resultant free kick deflected off the wall between him and the post for a lead against the run of play. This was doubled ten minutes later when a penalty was awarded for an awkward trip in the box by Elliot Simmonds. His fortunes did not improve as half time approached when he failed to step up playing Oluuafemi onside who finished comfortably. Apart from a speculative shot high and wide, and forcing a couple of corners Jason Feduidge in the Harrow goal had little to trouble him from an abject Hanwell first half display. The small crowd on this cold night had every reason to believe the contest effectively over.

Hanwell began purposefully from the restart clearly under instruction to press and raise the tempo. Harrow matched them to begin with and a clever through ball from Hanwell debutante Dean Blower to Decland Speede beating the offside trap should have seen Hanwell on the scoresheet. He was denied bravely by Feduidge. No thoughts of "not our night" were entertained. After 10 minutes Davis replaced Rispoli bringing fresh bite to the midfield. An off the ball incident involving Harrow's Fedel Williams and the home team Captain Elliot Power resulted in a yellow card for Power and for Speede for his subsequent protest to the referee. Harrow were finding it increasingly difficult to escape their half as the pressure on them mounted. The `off the ball' clash seemed to raise the ante and Simmonds (later replaced by Walsh) found himself in space on the left and a high cross (or was it a shot) found its way into the Harrow net. The deserved goal did not lessen the Hanwell effort and a few minutes later Shawn Hinds nipped in through the left channel to give Hanwell some real hope of a comeback. A free kick from Speede minutes later from a similar position was helped into the net by a flailing Feduidge in his attempt to knock it over the bar triggering wide celebrations on this stand side of the pitch as the home side drew level. Minutes later another free kick on the opposite edge of the box saw Speede drill a low fast one between the edge of the wall into the bottom left hand corner as remarkably Hanwell took the lead. Harrow began to throw everything forward and Lopes was strong in collecting high balls from successive corners. However an unpunished late challenge on him led to a ten-minute break in play whilst he received treatment. Inexplicably the officials let play go on despite the obvious lateness of the clash instantly leaving Ricardo yelping in pain. When play resumed scoring was completed by Shawn minutes from the end who deftly dinked the ball over an onrushing keeper causing another mass hug-in with the stand and the spectators this time joined by some of the subs off the bench. Fortunately, the officials saw reason and did not produce the threatened yellow cards. The match ended with all eight goals scored at the same end.

Post shower as the Hanwell players reflected over their sandwiches in the clubhouse, some 45 minutes later the Harrow players still in their kit were left listening to some adroit post match analysis from their coach. Only an intervention from the Hanwell Club Secretary giving a 10 minute locking up warning brought that particular monologue to an end. No doubt, Reynolds Field has seen some comebacks in its time but this memorable night will be up with the best of them.

The destination of the East Division Championship of the Allied Counties League was made a little clearer after ten man Hanwell second before the game lost by a single goal to leaders Sun Postal Sports. It was the home side who had the better of the first half, looking composed on the ball and playing at a tempo that appeared to carry on from their previous match. Although, Dean Blower on the left supported by Myles Johnson and Elliot Power on the right beat the defensive line on several occasions this never really resulted in a clear goal scoring opportunity. Although corners were gained in numbers for Hanwell, SPS dealt with these effectively leaving few chances. Hinds shot wide on a half chance and in truth the SPS keeper had few shots to warm his hands on in the first period. Although Hanwell were wining the contest on possession statistics, the deadlock remained at the break.

Both teams had no doubt during the interval had "the importance of the first ten minutes" of the restart impressed upon them. However, it was the away side who started the more lively and Hanwell were forced to defend and Lopes quickly had to gather on two occasions from troublesome shots. It was the Hanwell fullbacks turn to be beaten and a ball across goal should have led to the first goal but somehow it was scrabbled away. The Hanwell midfield began to regain possession of the ball as the wave of attacks by SPS were stemmed. The game turned on an incident in the 61st minute when Elliot Simmonds was sent off for foul and abusive language. Collecting the ball in a challenge as he moved away he was clattered into from behind having his shirt pulled in the process. In the action of falling he reached out, clearly handling the ball as he hit the ground. Inexplicably, the referee Peter Smith waived play on and indicated advantage to the Sun Postal player. This prompted Simmonds to angrily confront the referee, the profanity in the altercation being perceived as aggression and resulted in an instant red card. Had the words been more carefully chosen and perhaps maybe if the referee had consulted with his assistant the decision may well have been different and the card not shown.

From then there was a sense of inevitability about the goal. Despite an initial rallying by the Hanwell players, Lopes made a fine one handed stop when SPS 9 found himself clean through and tried to chip him. The goal came ten minutes from time as the SPS player got across Baldwin created space for a shot that flew into the right hand side of the net as Lopes was unsighted. Hanwell looked unlikely to rescue a point but battled out the remainder of the game that was notable for the one intervention of the official.

The second round of the sub cup saw Hanwell with a long away trip to Alton Town of the southern division of the Allied Counties league. Arriving early the team warmed up well and set about playing the game at a pace from the off that was uncomfortable for the home side. With a fast outlet of their own in M'Lambo up front, Hanwell sought to deny the Alton midfield the ball whilst marking tightly to stifle any possible response. Within the first ten minutes Elliot Simmonds began to show evidence of controlling the game. From centre midfield he appeared to have three seconds more than any other player when on the ball choosing his passes carefully left and right. This keept the Alton defence guessing as they ran backwards. It was Simmonds who grabbed the first two goals; the first following in from a Hinds corner, his second a left foot volley from a loose clearance after a Walsh corner. These coupled with several shots wide and over the bar from Walsh, Davis and Hinds should have seen the game safe by half time.

The second half saw no let up and despite Simmonds being obvious man of the match in his Gerrard like performance the goal of the game belonged to Laurence Rispoli. His speculative long range shot looked every inch the screamer it was intended as it struck the stantion in the top right hand corner of the goal, giving the keeper no chance. Frankly, it would have given any keeper no chance. Conversely, Ricardo Lopes in goal decided to gift the home side a chance by mis-kicking a half volley straight to the feet of M'Lambo who in his shock could do no more than lob it straight back into the Ricardo's grateful arms. It really was not going to be their night. Anthony Walsh finally managed to keep his head down whilst over the ball as the ball was squared to him by Hinds for for the fourth. The final scoring coming from that man Simmonds driving forward reulsting in a foul in the box. Little argument over who was take the resulting penalty and he buried the spot kick for a thoroughly deserved hattrick. This prompted leapfrog celebrations. Alton began to look very ragged indeed and their troubles were compounded a few minutes short of the final whistle when an injury to their keeper after all subs had been made saw an outfield player placed in goal and them finish the game with 10 men.

The first half saw Uxbridge play a one tactic game that involved every ball being played through their right wing leaving Hanwell left back Taj Seehra the busiest player on the pitch. Far from being overawed he comfortably snuffed each and every attack leaving Uxbridge with one solitary shot from distance as a reward for their lack of attacking ambition. By comparison Hanwell looked to attack from both wings but struggled to control the midfield area. Pressure mounted on the home side as play became compressed in their half and two free kicks should have brought more than goal kicks as Thompson in goal for Uxbridge was tested. A diagonal ball over the defence found Walsh in space on the right but the ball would not sit up as his shot flew high over the bar. Just after the half hour Hanwell broke the deadlock with a well earned penalty Walsh being brought down as he jinked in the box. The debate was more over whether Uxbridge would be reduced to ten men than the merit of the spot kick. Notably the ref saw it as a yellow not a red. Simmonds stepped up to score the penalty which Thompson was very unlucky not to save getting fingers to it.

Hanwell became the first team to defeat Harefield who prior to the fixture were unbeaten in this seasons twelve league games. Taking nothing away from Hanwell's performance their task was aided as early as the seventh minute by the second dismissal of the season for Harefield's and the league leading goal scorer Richmond Agyeman. His deliberate foot up on Simmonds in defence was worthy of least a yellow card in any level of football. Referee Mark Englebretson would have issued this only but for the indefensible reaction by Agyeman. Foolishly, he argued the decision with some force, his petulant outburst saw him walk away from the ref who coolly gave him a chance to return which was ignored and led to the issue of a second yellow for dissent followed by the inevitable red. It almost mirrored the Ashley Cole/Mike Riley incident of the same night, Mr Englebretson not being open to the same criticism for lack of decisive action as Mr Riley.

Needless to say Hanwell sought to press their advantage and began playing wide and into the channels as Harefield readjusted to a sole striker. Billy Sharp in goal was called upon on several occasions making some fine saves from Speed and Hinds as Hanwell switched the ball tirelessly to create chances. Harefield were restricted to counter attacks and Patrick Lawrence was continuously trying to stretch the Hanwell defence. Having finally worked the ball into the Hanwell box bad defending saw three miskicks fail to clear the ball which broke to Joe Newman who prodded home to give Harefield an unlikely lead. Hanwell should have been level before the break Rispoli playing in Speede who with only Sharp, to beat telegraphed his shot which was gathered with ease.

From the whistle of the second half Hanwell seemed the more motivated of the two sides and pressed with a tempo that they had been called upon to produce in the break. Rispoli and Walsh became more prominent in winning the ball in the midfield and Blower and Walsh began to make penetrating runs at the Harefield backline. An equaliser seemed inevitable and on 65 minutes some fine off the ball runs in midfield stretched Harefield and as the ball was finally played into the path of Rispoli he calmly picked his spot in the corner to beat Sharp. Hanwell seemed in the ascendancy and ten minutes later took the lead when Rispoli again shot from midfield this time taking a helpful deflection. Surprisingly, Hanwell continued to press and Sharp lived up to his name on further occasions his efforts alone almost earning a point as with 5 minutes to go on a rare counter a ball nudged forward by Lawrence beat Lopes only to beat the post as well. Hanwell pressed to the final whistle and were in the end good value for the win.

The first decision of referee Kyle Kirkbride was greeted with universal approval from the players of both sides, if not the groundsman, when he deemed the pitch playable. Hanwell pressed from the off and immediately put the Boro defence under pressure. Within 5 minutes left back Tajveer Seehra had rounded the Hillingdon right back squared for Decland Speede to slot home the first goal. It was Hanwell who seized the initiative straight from the kick off and a run down the right side by Dean Blower won a corner. Hillingdon cleared the ball to the half way line but a neat break saw the ball fall to Anthony Walsh who chipped it in for Speede to glance his header in for the second. Hanwell showed increasing signs of producing a rout when a further attack on the left saw the ball cannon of a Boro defender for the third goal within twenty five minutes. Boro rallied and forced two free kicks in dangerous positions but did little to threaten Lopes in the remainder of the half.

If Boro were to get anything out of the game the first ten minutes of the second half were critical and it looked totally beyond them when in the 48th minute Blower got his head to a corner beating the stranded Hillingdon keeper for a 4-0 lead. This proved the turning point as Hanwell then became ragged in defence and in their play generally as the young Hillingdon side visibly grew in stature and confidence. They found their passes as easily as Hanwell seemed to concede possession. Indecision at the back led to Lopes featuring in the game on numerous occasions. He was forced into action far more frequently now than his counterpart and eventually he could do little about a close range shot reducing the deficit. It was a richly deserved reward. It was Hanwell who were now forced to defend and they did well to keep their three goal lead intact. Unfortunately, the second half was noticeable for the ill discipline of particularly the home team as they accrued five yellow cards, all bar one being for dissent. Hillingdon Boro could rightly claim a victory of sorts in the last third of the match and probably deserved more than their solitary goal but by then the damage was done. Hanwell move into second in the table but will need their focus and discipline as shown in the first twenty minutes of this match to prevail for the full 90 in their forthcoming contests if they are to remain successful