Boys' 1st XI v Latymer Upper (Boodles R3)

Date:

Thursday 12th November

Venue:

University of Westminster Sports Ground, Cavendish Road, W4 3UH

Kick-off is 2.15pm

Team:

Jones, Fearn, Golding, Lewis, Evans, Moxham, Sanderson, Graham, Duggan (C), Chilaka, Mullen

Subs: Byas, Rees-Jones, Woodhead

Result:

Latymer Upper 2-2 Repton (after extra time) (Repton won 11-10 on penalties)

Match Report:

This was, without doubt, a pulsating cup tie. After a long journey Repton started the game strongly, almost scoring with a Luke Duggan shot after 15 seconds. The opening quarter of an hour saw Repton establish a good foothold in the game without ever really carving out a clear-cut chance. Latymer Upper gradually began to wrestle control of the midfield and were the better side for the last 25 minutes of the half. Their tricky left winger put several dangerous balls into the box that were well cleared by Josh Golding covering over from left back. With the pressure it was perhaps no surprise that Latymer scored first as a header from a corner came back off the bar and into the path of the striker for an easy finish.

A few subtle changes at half-time saw us start very positively. It was always going to be important to get back on level terms quickly and when Ndu Chilaka broke clear and equalizer looked a possibility, only to be thwarted by a superb saving tackle. Five minutes later it was a different story as CHILAKA once again broke clear to lash the ball in with tremendous power. Latymer the upped their game even further and took the lead again as their talented midfielder beat three players before finishing. It was a relatively poor goal from our point of view, but the skills were impressive. And so we had it all to do once again. A few near misses followed until finally, with three minutes left, two flicks by Evans and Woodhead found CHILAKA in the box who needed no further invitation to take the game into extra time.

This was a bitter blow for Latymer who must have surely thought they had the game won. However, this Repton side refuses to lie down and we went on to dominate both periods of extra time. Our legs looked full of running and only good work from the Latymer 'keeper prevented Chilaka from securing a memorable hat-trick.

And so to penalties. Neil Jones was fantastic in goal, saving to get us into winning positions twice, only to see the Latymer 'keeper save the resulting kick, one of them an astonishing save. Another Jones save saw the scores at 10-10 which sent Chilaka up to score the winner.....which he duly did. Having been on the wrong end of such a shoot out last year I know how hard it is to lose in this way and the Latymer players should be commended for the sporting way in which they congratulated our players at the end.

My thanks also go to the collection of ORs who came along to support the School. It is always nice to see the Repton colours when we go to unfamiliar surroundings and I'm glad we managed to reward them with an exciting, and ultimately successful, cup tie.