Dec 10, 2016
10 December Ashridge Park Royals U18 3 (Bourne 3) Ashridge Park Royals U17 0
Pre-match banter was speculation on how often the teams would hit the woodwork after the ridiculous encounter a few weeks earlier which ended goalless and U18 Royals had hit the woodwork on 5 occasions.
The match started at a frenetic pace with the U17's coming close to breaking the deadlock in the fisrt 5 minutes when the striker found himself unmarked but shot over from close range. However it did not take long to break the deadlock with Ted's beautiful swerving cross to the far post was headed past the keeper by a diving Alex. Alex doubled the lead on 16 minutes, meeting Ben's long pass with a left footed volley just inside the area.
Those spectators looking forward to some post/crossbar action were not disappointed when Charlie's effrt cannoned off the post on 32 minutes.
After a very exciting first half, the game deteriorated as a spectacle in the 2nd half, with the U17's having more of the play and calling Sam into action on a couple of occasions. There was time for the u18's to miss a penalty, before nerves were eased with Alex completing a hat-trick on 78 minutes after a fine individual run, to seal a 3-0 victory.
This set up a very difficult looking semi-final against Basingstoke Town, the dominant team in the Division, and coincidentally our next League opponents.