Tring Athletic 1 - 0 Berkhamsted Raiders

JONAH BOOKS OUR PLACE IN THE NEXT ROUND

With the rain relenting (apart from a brief shower at the beginning of the second half) we managed to play this St Marys Cup (Quarter Final) tie and thanks to young Jonah Howgego we were able to progress to the next round following his fine left foot finish in the 15th minute which turned out to be the only goal in the game.

This was not a classic cup tie and the fact that there was only one goal scored reflects that fact. Our guests are presently one off the bottom of Division 2 of the South Midlands League but they are a young side with technically gifted players and they play some nice football and were dangerous on the break.

Ryan Sturges and his Coaches made 7 changes from Saturday’s starting line up and like Raiders we also have our own contingent of young players with Jonah Howgego, Noah Butler and Harrison Mead (all members of our highly successful U18’s side) forming a youthful midfield trio. We should also include our keeper Owen Brooks-Tonkin who is also only 18 and new signing 19 year old Benjamin Kakembo making his debut at centre forward.

We started well and with only 8 minutes on the clock we produced a lovely flowing move from our own half involving Harry Jones, Max Hercules and Jonah Howgego who forced the Raiders keeper into making a fine save with his feet. Soon afterwards Max Hercules tested the keeper after being released by a fine pass from Harrison Mead with Jonah Howgego firing the loose ball over the bar.

A goal soon arrived on the quarter hour mark with Harrison Mead again being the instigator setting Max Hercules away down the right with a deft pass with the resulting cross being spilled by the keeper. Fortunately, Jonah was on hand to carefully steer the ball into the net. Score 1-0.

There were some nice skills displayed by the visiting players and although they fired in a few shots they failed to test Owen Brooks-Tonkin in goal. Ten minutes before half time Harrison Mead’s corner picked out Greg Deer whose firm header was cleared off the line by a defender. At the break we held a slim one goal lead. HT Score 1-0.

Six minutes after the restart a sliced clearance would have presented our visitors with an equaliser had Owen Brooks-Tonkin not got down quickly to tip the ball round the post. Soon afterwards a Raiders forward worked his way into a good shooting position down the inside right channel only to slice his shot well wide.

After that initial activity at the start of the second half the game settled down into a bit of a rut and although we enjoyed most of the possession and territory chances were few and far between at both ends. We were doing most of the attacking but Raiders defended well and kept us at bay for long spells. With about 10 minutes left of normal time Liam Smyth and Noah Butler tested the keeper but the game fizzled out a bit and we were able to book our place in the Semi-Final.

Credit to Raiders who played well and showed lots of nice touches and we wish them all the best for the rest of the season.

We are due to play London Lions on Saturday at The Michael Anthony Stadium but looking ahead at the weather that game may be in doubt, so check the website on Saturday morning to get an update.

Team:

TA: Owen Brooks-Tonkin, Harry Jones, Adam Sawyer (Harry Shepherd 70), Harrison Cornick, George Carbery (Capt), Jonah Howgego, Harrison Mead (Liam Smyth 76), Greg Deer, Noah Butler (Jack Harvey 82), Max Hercules, Benjamin Kakembo (Frankie Hercules 68).

Scorers:

TA: Jonah Howgego (15)

BR: -

Crowd: ?