Westfield Under 18s match report
Kingstonian produced their strongest performance for a while in defeating Westfield 5-0 at Woking Park in the Quarter-Final of the Surrey U18s Midweek Cup. K's knew that a major shift would be required after Westfield knocked Woking out in the previous round, and the young hoops did not disappoint.
The K's started the game on the front foot and took the lead in the 14th minute when Jordan Akono Bilongo launched a shot from silly distance that flew over the goalkeeper Jake Dyos and into the back of the net. The visitors kept moving forward and four minutes later doubled the lead when a long cross from the right wing evaded everyone except Iker Noguera Leon, who gratefully slammed the ball home from close range at the far post.
It was nearly three goals in a manic few minutes when in the 20th minute the dazed centre halves for the home side hesitated and expected the other to clear the ball, only for Rocco Ilhan to sneak in and only just miss the target when he prodded the ball goalwards.
After a period of about ten minutes in which Westfield enjoyed more possession and threatened to haul themselves back into the contest, Kingstonian brought out their ruthless streak in the 35th minute with a long punt out of defence dissecting the Westfield formation and finding Zac Jervis. His race on goal with the ball reached the penalty area and his finish for the third goal was utterly clinical.
The second half was mainly made out Kingstonian pressing for more goals and coming up against an excellent performance from the home team's goalkeeper, who made several fine saves. The two goals Kingstonian did get were unfortunate for a luckless Westfield team. The fourth goal came in the 61st minute when a defensive disaster saw one Westfield defender smash a clearance off a team-mate, the ball rebounded perfectly to Rocco Ilhan, who was able to take present gladly and rolled the ball into the back of the net.
The final goal of the night came in the 87th minute with what looked to be a weird refereeing decision when Adelino Sampaio and a Westfield defence both threw themselves at the ball inside the penalty area, with the man in black pointing to the spot. Iker Noguera Leon calmly waited for the goalkeeper to make his dive and slid the ball home right down the middle.
So Kingstonian moved into the last four of the county cup, a competition not won by the hoops since the 2011-12 season. In the way of an appearance in the 2022-23 final is Corinthian-Casuals, who will host the K's in what is sure to be a very tasty semi-final. Corinthian-Casuals defeated Abbey Rangers last night on penalties after a 2-2 draw and will definitely be a strong opponent.
The Under 18s action isn't over for the week as they now visit East Grinstead Town for an Isthmian Youth League Central Division this coming Thursday at the earlier time of 7.30pm. The previous contest was a thriller that saw East Grinstead equalise in second half injury time, only for K's to still go up the other end and win 3-2.
