South Park triumph in the U18 Midweek Cup Final
South Park had to come from behind to beat Kingstonian 3-1 in the Thorpe Park U18 Midweek Cup final on Monday night.
South Park started the game the brightly, and their first chance came in the second minute, as Deondre Date progressed through the Kingstonian half before being brought down by Alexandros Andreou. The resulting free-kick was swung in, but Date’s header was well held by Lohmeier in the Kingstonian goal.
Kingstonian’s first chance of the evening fell to Captain, Iker Noguera Leon, after Rocco Ilhan held the ball up well before slipping the ball across the box. Kingstonian, now growing into the game, had another good chance as Freddie Bailey swung in a corner, but Andreou couldn’t divert his header towards goal.
Their pressure paid off in the 17th minute, as Rivah Bailey swung in a perfectly timed ball which found Marco Haigh, unmarked, and he was able to place the ball into the top left corner to put Kingstonian ahead in the tie.
Minutes later they could have doubled their lead as Iker Noguera Leon was played through, but he was unable to get his shot off early enough and Kamani Nettleford did well to block the shot.
Neat play between Pacey Bean and Deniz Ozer could have resulted in another Kingstonian goal, as Ozer was found in space, but his shot from the left of the South Park box was well met by Kamil Oke and cleared to safety.
With momentum now with Kingstonian, South Park made an early change, and it paid off, as they got an equaliser in the 21st minute, Brooklyn Hyseni skipped into the Kingstonian box and his cutback was bundled over by Mikayal Joseph.
South Park could have taken the lead moments later, as Date hit a strong free kick from 20 yards out, but his effort was pushed out by Joshua Lohmeier in the Kingstonian goal.
South Park did eventually break-through and took the lead on the 44th minute after Date wriggled past a couple of Kingstonian players before stroking the ball past Lohmeier and took a 2-1 lead into the interval.
Kingstonian came out of the second half well and thought they had equalised when good work around the box found Rivah Bailey just inside the area, but his effort rippled the edge of the side netting.
Additionally, a good save was needed by Oke to keep South Park ahead as Iker Noguera Leon skipped past his man on the right of the box and his shot from was denied by a strong hand by the keeper.
Kingstonian, now pushing hard for an equaliser was kept out by resolute defending of South Park. Substitute Lewis Gould was looking to make an instant impact and his ball across the box almost fell to Iker Leon for an easy finish, but it was well read by the South Park defence.
South Park scored a third through Brooklyn Hyseni, as Date picked up the ball and his powerful effort was parried by Lohmeier, falling to Hyseni on the right of the box, his shot looked to take a small deflection to wrong-foot the keeper and nestle into the net to put them one step closer to the cup.
Kingstonian, with now a mountain to climb were pushing for a way back into the match, but the South Park defence remained disciplined. They had a well worked chance as Iker Noguera Leon and Deniz Ozer played the ball wide, but Ozer’s shot was well held by Oke.
Another great chance followed in the 90th minute, as Gould found space in the box before passing to Haigh whose shot was well blocked.
Iker Noguera Leon could have made it a nervy last few minutes, as in additional time he was slipped in by substitute Mitchell, but his chance whistled wide of the right post. They then had another great effort as a free kick was swung in but a great stop by Oke kept the scores at 3-1.
Despite Kingstonians best efforts, South Park ran out the game as 3-1 winners.
Goals (South Park): Mikayal Joseph (21’), Deondre Date (44’), Brooklyn Hyseni (68’)
Goals (Kingstonian): Marco Haigh (17’)
Attendance: 148
POTM: Kamil Oke
Match Officials:
Referee: Matthew Funnell
Assistant Referee: Eros Frangiamore
Assistant Referee: Daniel Killick
Fourth Official: Richard Renyolds
South Park: Kamil Oke, Hugh Lang, Brooklyn Hyseni, Fabian Williams, Stefan Aiwone, Kamani Nettleford, Dylan Page, Mikayal Joseph, Deondre Date, Dante Walker, Billy White-Saunders, Nathan Smith, Grant Bonsu, Daniel Harvey, Alex Kirby, Lakai Simpson.
Kingstonian: Joshua Lohmerier, Jordan Akono Bilongo, Rivah Bailey, Freddie Bailey, Alexandros Andreou, Niklas Manthey, Iker Noguera Leon, Deniz Ozer, Rocco Ilhan, Marco Haigh, Pacey Bean, Beau Walters, Adelino Sampaio, Blake Mitchell, Eren Hincal, Lewis Gould.