Horsham FA Youth Cup match report
In their first match at their new home at South Park FC, Kingstonian moved into the Third (and final) Qualifying Round of the FA Youth Cup with a 5-1 win over Horsham in a game that was far closer than the final scoreline suggests.
K's got off to the quick start by opening the scoring in the 7th minute; a patient build-up reaped rewards when a fine through ball from midfield bypassed the Horsham defence, Marco Haigh ran in from deep, controlled the ball well and side footed the ball past Hornets keeper George Edgley for a fine opening goal.
Horsham were not fazed by this early setback and quickly won a penalty in the 15th minute for a trip on the edge of the area, but Jack Wallace's kick was poorly struck, Joshua Lohmeier guessed correctly and made a catch.
After a number of other close calls for the K's, they took the lead in the 37th minute with an opportunist goal taking advantage of a ball richocheting about as tackles flew, the bounce finally favoured the K's, Quincy Patterson surged into the penaltry area, slid a pinpoint pass through to Marco Haigh, who collected his second goal with an emphatic finish. On the balance of play, Horsham must have been wondering what was going on.
An early second half goal for the Hornets would have been a massive boost for the visitors, as it was Kingstonian extended the lead to three in the 48th minute when Iker Noguera Leon caught Beau Walters in possession and slammed the ball home from close range.
The Hornets did get one back in the 61st minute after a stramash in the six yard box ended with substitute Alessandro Colombini prodding the ball home from short range. However, from then on the K's began to assert themselves and began to successfully control the game and see it out.
In doing so, they got on to the scoresheet on two further occasions. In the 73rd minute a fast break attack from the K's culminated with Deniz Ozer finding Iker Noguera Leon on the right wing, he darted inside and cut back to Blake Mitchell, whose finish was superb. Three minutes later K's scored possibly the best goal of the contest when another fine pass from Deniz Ozer this time found Marco Haigh down the left, he cut inside and curled an outstanding shot from the edge of the area into the top corner of the net to earn himself a well-deserved hat-trick. Horsham keeper Edgley managed to get his hand to it but was unable to divert the ball away from the net.
So, Kingstonian are in the proverbial hat for the Third Qualifying Round of the FA Youth Cup, the final round before the EFL clubs from Leagues One and Two enter the fray. The draw in theory should be out later this week and will of course be publicised on this website as soon as the web guru wakes up and finds his typewriter. In the meantime, the Combined Counties League team play their first game of the season on Wednesday 28th, when they host CB Hounslow United at Chertsey Town FC and then the Isthmian team are back in action next Monday 3rd October when they visit Imber Court for what should be a cracker of a match at Metropolitan Police.
Kingstonian: Joshua Lohmeier, Omari Osborne, Rivah Bailey, Freddie Robins, Alex Andreou, Niklas Manthey, Iker Noguera Leon, Freddie Bailey, Marco Haigh, Deniz Ozer, Quincy Patterson.
Subs: Jamie Wright, Joseph Apeni, Fourat Jomaa, Forbes Adam (for Marco Haigh, 85m), Zac Jervis, Minkyu Ji (for Freddie Robins, HT), Blake Mitchell (for Quincy Patterson, 69m).
Horsham: George Edgley, James Archard, Charlie Gibson, Finlay Knight, Beau Walters, Ezekiel Ndhlovu, Josh Barlow, Ilias Al-Meskin Hazouza, Jack Wallace, Tristan Pereira-Leeatin, Eugenge Moteane.
Subs: Max Morris (for Josh Barlow, HT), Jack Hayes, Ryan Yoro Thomas (for Tristan Pereira-Leeatin, 75m), Sam Zagdouni, Alessandro Colombini (for Jack Wallace, 58m).
Goal scorers: Marco Haigh (7m, 1-0), Marco Haigh (37m, 2-0), Iker Noguera Leon (48m, 3-0), Alessandro Colombini (61m, 3-1), Blake Mitchell (73m, 4-1), Marco Haigh (76m, 5-1).
Attendance: 74
