AFC Wimbledon Youth 2 Tooting & Mitcham 1
West Surrey Premier Elite - Sunday 23 October 2005
The absence of Matthew Braben, Scott Fullerton, Sam King and Jack Malin, and the need to play the injured Matthew O'Brien, left AFC Youth with virtually ten men to face second-placed Tooting & Mitcham. Nevertheless, the strength, depth and passion of the squad was such that AFC still managed to dominate large chunks of the game, and they eventually ran out 2-1 winners, and the goal tally might easily have been doubled or even trebled. AFC created by far the most of the scoring opportunities in the first half, and it was certainly extraordinary that Tooting's defence went into the interval only two goals down. The Tooting keeper certainly had a great game, but equally the AFC strikers were profligate with their finishing. Charlie Dennis gave the hosts the lead with a header from a corner, and Troy Murray added the second with a memorable overhead kick from the angle of the penalty area. The visitors had a much better second half, and eventually pulled a goal back, when following a corner, a shot from the edge of the box rolled into the net off an unguarded post. During the last ten minutes, the hosts came under a lot of pressure as Tooting pressed for the equaliser, but the makeshift AFC defence held out to claim all three points. This win lifted AFC Youth into 5th place in the table, 5 points off the leaders, AFC Wimbledon, with one game in hand. William Taylor was awarded man of the match for a skilful and tireless display in the right midfield. It would be amiss not to mention that it needed a strong and very gritty performance from Matthew O'Brien to play the entire game carrying an injury.
Reporter's man of the match: William Taylor
Team: Nick Greaves; Matthew O'Brien, James Snishko, Charlie Dennis, Sahil Patel; William Taylor, Sonny Russell, Tee-Jay Ryan, Luke Ewing; Timi da Silva, Troy Murray. Sub: