Woking Cougars 1 AFC Wimbledon Youth 2
West Surrey Premier Elite - Sunday 11 December 2005
AFC Youth visited league leaders Woking Cougars and came away with all three points to stretch their unbeaten run to 33 games. Paul Nicholls returned to the squad and apart from Scott Fullerton, the team was at full strength. The small pitch was not really conducive to an attractive game, and neither was the negative 4-5-1 adopted by the hosts. These fears proved well-founded because a large proportion of the first half saw play confined to the middle third of the field. The first chance fell to AFC on 15 minutes when Troy Murray shot wide from a very good position. Not long after AFC should have scored when first Troy Murray had a shot blocked by the keeper, and then Sonny Russell following up shot straight at the keeper from just inside the box. The Cougars seemed unable to make much impact on the AFC defence, but they finally broke through on 20 minutes and they really should have scored, but their forward was dealt with by the combination of Jack Malin and James Snishko as he delayed his shot when only eight yards from goal. The visitors resumed the offensive, but Timi da Silva was well shackled by the hosts, and most of the threat came from Troy Murray, but he shot wide again after turning a couple of defenders on the left. The Cougars mounted another dangerous counterattack, and this time a forward broke clean through down the right wing, but a jet-propelled Jack Malin burst in on him as he prepared to shoot at goal. AFC wasted another goal-scoring opportunity, and then this was followed by a stinging shot from the opposition that Nick Greaves caught under the cross bar. There were a couple of high-speed surges out of the AFC defence, one by James Snisko that culiminated on the edge of the Cougars penalty area, and another by Jack Malin up the right wing that sent Timi da Silva on his way, but both of these attacks resulting in no end product. The rest of the half passed without much incident, apart from Nick Greaves bungling a clearance that fell straight to a Cougars midfielder who failed to hit the empty target from 25 yards out. A fairly even game in a goal-less first half, but with AFC creating the most chances.
When the game resumed AFC reverted to the much more adventurous 3-4-3 formation with Jack Malin joining Timi da Silva and Troy Murray to complete the strike force. This change quickly opened up the home defence, and Troy Murray beat a defender on the left to go clean through on goal, but he shot wide of the target with only the keeper to beat. AFC now dominated the proceedings with Sonny Russell and Tee-Jay Ryan impressive in the midfield, and Paul Nicholls was introduced on the left wing to apply even more pressure on the hosts. Nevertheless, the Cougars remained dangerous on the quick break, and the back three of Sam King, James Snishko and Charlie Dennis had to be on top form to deal with any counterattacks.Timi da Silva, who had a very quiet first half, suddenly tore the home defence apart by dribbling right through for a one-on-one with the keeper, but an impressive save prevented a certain goal. After more AFC pressure, another mazy run from Timi da Silva took him through the Cougars defence once again, but the keeper deflected the shot towards the corner flag. Jack Malin was quickly onto the loose ball, and he laid back to Sonny Russell who completely wrong-footed a defender, but then had his leg taken away. The referee was right up with play, and had no hesitation in awarding a stonewall penalty. After some strong protests from the Cougars defence, Troy Murray stepped up to convert the spot-kick. The Cougars then fought back by applying some pressure, but were very lucky to escape when Troy Murray missed a sitter following a corner. AFC then increased their advantage when Paul Nicholls laid the ball back for Sonny Russell to shoot high into the net from the edge of the area. AFC now reverted back to 4-4-2 with Jack Malin reverting back into the middle of the defence. The game now became progressively more physical with the midfield sometimes resembling a battleground. A late challenge resulted in Tee-Jay Ryan retiring with an injury, and Matthew O'Brien was now sent on to fill void in the defensive midfield. Five minutes from time, AFC made a tactical error by sending James Snishko up for a corner. The Cougars broke quickly and in numbers, and Jack Malin and Charlie Dennis suddenly found themselves outnumbered at the back. The ball was played into the path of a spare Cougars player who beat the advancing Nick Greaves to reduce the deficit. Inspired by this goal, the hosts pressed forward in the hope of getting a late equaliser, but it was not to be with the referee disallowing a Cougars goal right at the death. A free-kick was given away needlessly on the AFC left, and the ball was swung over into the goal area where a Cougars player steered it out of the keeper's grasp with his hand. Another Cougars player then buried it from close range, but fortunately for AFC, the referee saw the deliberate handball, and disallowed the goal despite the inevitable storm of protests from Woking.
After this hard-fought victory, AFC Youth moved back into third place behind AFC and Aldershot Town. As the season develops the League Championship now looks to be between these three teams and Hayes.
Reporter's man of the match: James Snishko
Team: Nick Greaves; Sam King, James Snishko, Jack Malin, Charlie Dennis; Matthew Braben, Sonny Russell, Tee-Jay Ryan, Luke Ewing; William Taylor, Troy Murray. Sub: Matthew O'Brien, Paul Nicholls, Sahil Patel.