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SATURDAY 28th AUGUST 2010
F.A. Cup - Preliminary Round
CHESHUNT 2 - COCKFOSTERS 2
EWING'S DREAM GOAL BECOMES CHESHUNT's NIGHTMARE...
The Reds Wembley dream is still alive following their very
creditable draw with local Rymans League side Cheshunt.
The early exchanges were fairly equal with possibly the home team keeper being
the slightly busier; in fact it was almost 30 minutes before
Cheshunt got their first effort on target, which was easily collected by Danny
Curbelo. Prior to this both Joe Smith and Nicky Steward had caused
problems at the other end.
The home side’s main threat of attack came from long balls pumped into the Reds
penalty area, however in general these were comfortably dealt
with by Micky Nathan and Ian Reddington. Once again Cockfosters brought about
somewhat more pressure than necessary by giving away possession far too easily.
Five minutes before the interval Cheshunt took the lead from the penalty spot
after Ian Reddington was adjudged to have brought down Chris Meikle
as he made a darting run into the area and Darrell Cox made no mistake with his
spot kick. Trailing to this solitary goal the Reds started the second half very
much on the front foot and had a couple of good chances within the first five
minutes. On 54 minutes they got a well deserved equaliser when Aaron Ewing
picked up the ball midway in the Cheshunt half and having run almost unopposed
to the edge of their area let fly with a
spectacular strike which flew into the top corner, giving the home keeper no
chance whatsoever and at the same time rivalling Joe Smith’s
strike at Welwyn the previous Tuesday as the ‘goal of the season’.
Shortly afterwards Neil Ewing made his first substitution when Liam Russell was
replaced by Hayden Edwards making his debut for the Reds.
On 63 minutes Ben Andreos shot just over, following good interplay between Nicky
Steward and Dave Pigden. Shortly after it was Dave Pigden
himself who went very close. At the other end Danny Curbelo had to be at his
most alert to deny the home side a second goal. A second goal did eventually
come but this time at the right end, when the home keeper’s thrown clearance hit
Nicky Steward who then coolly controlled the ball and floated it over the
stranded keeper into the empty net. Before the restart Ben Andreos, who had run
himself into the ground, was replaced by Jonathan Curtis.
Unfortunately the lead only lasted for a few minutes before Cheshunt grabbed an
equalised, when the Reds defence were slow to react to
clearing a long range attempt and Chris Meikle was on hand to smash the ball
home.
As the final whistle approached, probably the best move of the entire game saw
six Cockfosters players involved in a move from deep in their
own half, with Jon Curtis just unable to get on the end of Joe Smith’s cross.
A reoccurrence of Joe Smith’s ankle injury just prior to the end saw a second
debut appearance of the day when he was replaced by Daren Cousins.
So honours even and probably over the 90 minutes a fair result. The replay takes
place at Chalk Lane on Tuesday evening when there must be a
result, with the eventual winners going through for an away tie against Rymans
Premier Division side Hendon.
TUESDAY 24th AUGUST 2010
Spartan South Midlands League - Division One
WELWYN GARDEN CITY 0 COCKFOSTERS 2
BEST SO FAR.. AS REDS SLIP INTO GEAR.......
Two first
half goals were enough to see the Reds return home from Herns Lane with all
three points. During the first 15 minutes Cockfosters enjoyed the majority of
attacking play and probably should have opened their account during this period.
Mark Golding came closest when his fierce drive hit the crossbar with the home
team keeper well beaten.
The hosts
gradually got themselves into the game and Danny Curbelo had to be on his toes
to keep his goal intact. On 25 minutes following a slick move down the right
flank, Nicky Steward was on hand at the far post to head the Reds into the lead.
On 39 minutes Joe Smith scored what could well be a contender for ‘goal of the
season’ when from a position well outside the right edge of the penalty area, he
fired home an unstoppable shot into the far top corner.
Cockfosters
first half display saw them starting to play their best football of the season
and quite possibly their two goal advantage at half time could and probably
should have been even greater.
Although the
second half did not quite live up to the promise shown in the first 45 minutes,
the Reds continued to get themselves into very good goal-scoring opportunities
but a combination of poor finishing or decision making together with some good
goal keeping prevented further goals. The majority of pressure from Welwyn was
self induced by the Reds either by giving away unnecessary free kicks or losing
possession in their own half. Micky Nathan again controlled our defensive very
efficiently being well supported in the centre by Ian Reddington and full backs
Wesley Ewing and Mark Golding.
As usual up
front both Ben Andreos and Dave Pigden worked hard, continually putting pressure
on the Welwyn defenders, whilst Nicky Steward on the left of midfield caused
problems to our hosts almost every time he had the ball.
All in all
this was a fairly comfortable win however we must try to take more of our goal
scoring opportunities as we will certainly not have the benefit of Joe’s ‘wonder
strike’ every game, or for that matter a ‘headed’ goal by Nicky.
TUESDAY 17th AUGUST 2010
Spartan South Midlands League - Division One
LONDON LIONS 5 COCKFOSTERS 1
REDS BADLY MAULED...
On an excellent playing surface the Reds failed to match the
speed and determination of their opponents, who are playing their first season
in our division, having topped the premier division of the Hertfordshire Senior
County League last season. Whilst we did have players missing, this cannot be
used as an excuse for what can only be described as an embarrassingly poor
performance from which no Cockfosters player came out with any credit or
presumably enjoyment.
The home side spurned a couple of easy chances even before they took a10th
minutes lead when Ben Ellis fired home with the Cockfosters defence all at sea.
Even prior to this early goal the Reds indiscipline, which was evident
throughout the night, was again to the fore with both Steward and Nathan being
booked for dissent.
On the 20 minute mark the hosts increased their lead with an excellent strike
from Aron Barnes from the edge of the penalty area. Shortly
afterwards Cockfosters had their first attempt on goal when a speculative shot
from Ben Andreos went just over.
On 35 minutes Danny Curbelo had to be at his best to keep out another goal-bound
strike but he could no nothing a couple of minutes later when the home team’s
centre forward James Gershfield scored the first of his eventual hatrick.
With just five minutes to go before the halftime interval the Reds managed their
first strike on target albeit their keeper was not unduly
stretched by Tony Holdcroft’s effort.
So at halftime we were 3 – 0 down but there was a glimmer of hope as the
heavens opened, there was just a chance the game might get abandoned!
On the hour things got even worse when the Reds were reduced
to ten men (for the second game running) when Nicky Steward received a second
yellow, again for dissent. As Nicky trudged off, he was quickly followed by Tony
Holdcroft, Liam Russell and Kieran Wilson who were replaced by Mark Golding, Ian
Reddington and Joe Smith.These substitutions did at least show some improvement
in effort and
within a couple of minutes Joe Smith found the top corner with an excellent
volley from fully twenty yards, when the home defence only
managed to half cleared a free kick. With the Reds now pushing forward in
all-out attack, in an attempt to get something out of the game, they were found
lacking in numbers at the back on a couple of occasions leaving Gershfield one
on one with Curbelo to complete his hatrick.
Definitely a night to forget for us but on this showing the Lions will be a
match for any team in our division.
SATURDAY 14th AUGUST 2010
F.A. Cup - Extra Preliminary Round
COCKFOSTERS 2 - HULLBRIDGE SPORTS 1
HERO BEN TURNS VILLAIN
Cockfosters moved one step nearer a Wembley appearance next
May with a narrow victory over Essex Senior League side Hullbridge Sports in
this Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup.With very little to choose between
the sides in the opening encounters it was the Reds who made the first
breakthrough on 16 minutes when a wonder strike from Ben Andreos who swivelled
and volleyed the ball into the top corner from fully 20 yards. Eight minutes
later Cockfosters doubled their lead and it was again Andreos who was on target
following excellent work from Nicky Steward who beat three players before
slotting the ball through for Ben to fire home.
The visitors now upped their tempo and the Reds defence came
under considerable pressure and it was only the alert Curbelo in the home goal
who kept their two goal lead in tact.With half-time approaching Hullbridge were
gifted a lifeline by the referee who firstly awarded a penalty when the visitors
right winger went to ground. The more generous of the spectators felt he may
just have lost his footing, although most saw it as a blatant dive, certainly
only one person in the ground saw it as a penalty. But worse was to come,
following a minor fracas involving players from both sides that followed the
penalty decision, Cockfosters two goal hero Ben Andreos was shown a straight red
card. Bearing in mind that following this fracas the referee and his two
Assistants were in conversation for fully three minutes, it did seem rather
strange that only one player was singled out for disciplinary action.
With a man light for the entire second half this was now going
to be an uphill battle, and so it proved with the majority of possession and
attacking being done by the visitors. That said the Reds did have a couple of
good chances to extend their lead, non more so when Steward and Pigden combined
well but their effort was scrambled away. With legs tiring Cockfosters
substituted Wesley Ewing, Liam Russell and Dave Pigden with Joe Smith, Aaron
Ewing and Kieran Wilson respectively but this did little to stem the constant
attacks of the visitors but they were unable to find a way past Danny Curbelo
who had an outstanding game. Having played what seemed an eternity of
injury/added time the final whistle blew and Cockfosters were through to the
next round when they will visit local rivals Cheshunt FC on Saturday 28th
August. Possibly a little fortunate to have gone through at the first attempt,
that said without the penalty and sending-off incident the Reds would no doubt
have enjoyed a somewhat more positive second 45 minutes. What could not be
denied was the tremendous non-stop work rate put in by all the lads and possibly
for that alone the victory was deserved.
Saturday 7th August 2010
Spartan South Midlands League - Division One
Buckingham Athletic 0 - Cockfosters 2
First Gear Arrival but Reds Quickly In The Groove...
Whilst due to traffic accidents on the M1 the team only arrived
at Buckingham's ground at 2.45 pm , causing the scheduled kick-off time to
be delayed for 20 minutes, it took only a minute for the Reds to open their
account for the news season. Following a goalmouth scramble, Dave Pigden prodded
the ball goalwards and despite a desperate lunge by a Buckingham defender, he
could not prevent the ball crossing the line.
The rather new look Cockfosters side, with only four players remaining from the
final games of last season looked extremely organised and were superbly led by
new captain Michael Nathan playing in the centre of defence, together with Ian
Reddington who was returning after missing all of last season with a serious
ankle injury. They were well supported by full backs Wes Ewing and debutant Mark
Golding.
A second goal always looked likely and sure enough it came on 23 minutes when
following fine work by Ben Andreos down the right flank the ball was swept right
across field to Aaron Ewing on the left who's early cross found an unmarked Jon
Curtis just six yards out, with the
relatively easy task to head the ball past the stranded keeper. There were
further opportunities to increase our lead before the break
but as the teams left for their half-time cup of tea we had to be satisfied with
our two goal lead.
The early stages of the second half saw both sides struggling
to put more than two consecutive passes together but as the half went on
Cockfosters again played some neat football and were only denied further goals
by a couple of excellent saves from the home keeper.
Second half substitutes saw Matt Keogh replace Wes Ewing and Nicky Steward and
Tony Holdcroft replacing Lee Purdy and Aaron Ewing. Defensively we were rarely
troubled although with ten minutes to go Buckingham did nearly reduced the
arrears when a somewhat speculative shot hit the outside of the post.
All in all despite the travel problems to reach Buckingham this was an
encouraging start to the new season with excellent performances all
round the pitch.
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