Rothwell Corinthians Development edged out as Cooks make it three wins on the trot.
Thursday 11th November 2021
NORTHANTS F.A DAVID JOYCE CUP-QUARTER FINAL
COHGENHOE UNITED U18 (1) 3 ROTHWELL CORINTHIANS U18 DEVELOPMENT(1) 2
Cooks;
Iaciofano 14, 77
Reza 62 (pen)
Rowell:
Sennett 43, 75(pen)
Att; 34
Gary Fletcher added former Bugbrooke man Liam Isaac to the squad recently and he was named on the subs bench today along with the returning Ollie Sljivic who had been ruled out of the last few games, whilst Bradley Burbidge made his first start for a while and reclaimed the captain’s armband.
It was a lively start with the Cooks having two shots in the first minute as Nat Allam tried his luck from just outside the box following a good piece of play, but he didn’t middle his effort, then we saw an effort blocked before the visitors broke away quickly and forced Kyle Grimshaw into the game’s first save down the village end. Both sides were playing some decent football without finding that killer pass, but that changed on 14 minutes when Matt Fletcher battled in the middle and found Shad Reza to his right, with the talented midfield man sending over a great ball to the far post where Luca Iaciofano patiently waited for it to drop before firing an unstoppable volley high into the net. A nasty clash of heads between Manny Asante and Dominik Wysocki saw the Corinthians man come off worse and he was forced to come off for some patching up with a cut just above the eye. (Thankfully we was able to return to the action later on with his head bandaged up).
Asante went for goal from just outside the box after some strong hold up play from Fletcher, but his effort was the wrong side of the far post, then a great run by Elijah Noel saw him burst down the left and although he was caught a little late, his strength meant he carried on unhindered to get into the box, but unfortunately his shot, although powerful, didn’t have the accuracy he was looking for. George Johnson sliced a shot wide from 25-yards for the visitors just before a well struck free-kick from Josh Sennett stung the hands of Grimshaw, but he was well positioned and caught the ball just under bar height.
Ben Hassan-Hussein cut inside from the right before curling an effort that was a yard or so over the top, but with just two minutes to go before the interval, Rothwell drew level. Having seen one effort saved a few minutes earlier, unsurprisingly it was Sennett who lined it up and this time he beat Grimshaw with a powerful strike that flew high into the net to the keeper’s right hand side. A minute later Corinthians hit our crossbar with a near post heard from a corner and the half ended soon afterwards when Fletcher shot wide from the edge of the box.
HT; Cooks 1 Corinthians 1.
Again the Cooks started on the front foot and Reza cut in from the right to go past two defenders inside the box before hitting a shot with the outside of his right foot that beat the keeper and smacked the far post, then good work from Asante set up Iaciofano with a chance, but his shot was a little too high from a few yards inside the box on the right. Iaciofano was heavily involved in a lot of the Cooks attacking play and he sliced a shot wide from inside the box just before trying to pick out Reza’s run with what looked like a great pass, but it zipped through a little too strong and went out for a goal-kick. A great challenge from Harley Pridmore denied Fletcher as he broke into the box before the Cooks made their first change as Aiden Hawes replaced Burbidge just before the hour.
A dangerous Reza free-kick was headed behind by Pridmore, then a show of skill and speed from Reza saw him go past two defenders with the second one bringing him down inside the box. Reza brushed himself down and calmly converted the penalty low to the keeper’s left and Cogenhoe had the lead back with 62 minutes played. Reza played a ball down the line to Hassan-Hussein who went past Pridmore, but the Rothwell’s skipper brought him down with a late challenge that saw the yellow card come out of referee Wyndham Trusler’s pocket. Noel put the free-kick into the box where it skidded off the head of Hassan-Hussein before finding its way to Hawes whose firmly hit shot hit a defender and went wide. Noel played the corner in deep and although James McGrath got his head to it beyond the far post, the angle was extremely tight and he couldn’t direct it on target.
Liam Isaac came on for Hassan-Hussain for his Cooks debut on 69 minutes. Owen Wells hit a swirling shot from just outside the box that Grimshaw took comfortably, whilst Iaciofano did well to keep the ball in and find Isaac down the left flank. The new signing got the better of his man and sent over a good cross that Fletcher couldn’t get his head to in the middle, before Asante sent over a great cross from the right that Isaac would have headed home from close range had Landor Adams not managed to stretch and get a hand too and touch away from the Cooks man.
Cogenhoe were very much on top at this point, but it was the visitors who brought themselves level again with a penalty of their own on 75 minutes. Sennett sent over a cross from the left that Jude Rodwell couldn’t quite get too, but Wells came in unmarked behind him and as he took it towards goal Grimshaw came rushing out and took him out. Sennett despatched the penalty neatly into the right bottom corner to level things up at 2-2. Last week’s match winner Charlie McAuley came on for Fletcher before the restart and two minutes later the Cooks were in front again. Reza had played a vital part in the first two goals and he can claim the assist on this one too as his dangerous free-kick from the left was headed home by Iaciofano from just outside the 6-yard box. Second of the night for the impressive Italian/Liverpudlian and headed goals in the last two games as well.
A nice turn by Iaciofano saw him sprint down the right flank before sending over a very good cross that Adams managed to punch away from the incoming Isaac, then McGrath clipped a ball over the top for Isaac to run onto and despite being closed down quickly, he turned back and whipped over a cross that was headed away allowing Rothwell to break quickly and Grimshaw had to come out to the edge of the box quickly to clear the ball back up field. A good defensive header by McGrath led to a Rothwell corner that Tommy Wildish met with his head, but he didn’t trouble the keeper as the ball went wide. Ollie Sljivic made a welcome return to action when he replaced Archie Shaw on the right side of the defence with eight minutes to go.
A great challenge from Allam stopped a shooting chance for Corinthians, then back down the other end a Reza pass dropped just over the defenders head to meet Isaac’s run and he sent over a dipping cross that Adams had to stretch and tip over the bar. Reza delivered a good corner that Adams got a fist to only to find Iaciofano in the middle of the box, but his shot hit a defender and went behind for a corner on the opposite side. Iaciofano fed Asante on the right and he put over a cross that McAuley got a touch to and Iaciofano had come in behind to head for goal, but this time his looping effort dropped just over the bar and landed on the roof of the netting.
Cool defending from Noel stopped Wysocki getting a sniff of the goal, then a nice move from Rothwell saw Sljivic make a very timely tackle deep inside his box. Grimshaw punched the corner away and as time ticked away McAuley was shown the yellow card for kicking the ball away as we ran down the clock to secure our third straight win.
Another entertaining game to watch from our U18 squad. Everyone played well this week and it seems unfair to pick out any names, but special mentions to Luca who seems to be getting better all the time and could well be knocking on the first team manager’s door if he continues to perform like this, Shad whose skills never cease to amaze and Liam Isaac who only had 20 minutes, but really impressed me in that time and looks like another player who can make a real name for himself in this beautiful game of ours. It takes two teams to make a good game and Rothwell certainly did that today. Good luck to them for the rest oftheir NSYL North season
Cooks; 1. Kyle Grimshaw 2. Archie Shaw (sub Ollie Sljivic 82) 3. Elijah Noel 4. Bradley Burbidge © (sub 16. Aiden Hawes 57) 5. Nat Allam 6. James McGrath 7. Luca Iaciofano 8. Manny Asante 9. Matt Fletcher (sub 15. Charlie McAuley 75) 10. Shad Reza 11. Ben Hassan-Hussein (sub Liam Isaac 69). Sub not used; Freddie Shaw.
Yellow cards; Noel (43) Foul. McAuley (90+2) Time wasting.
Rothwell; Landor Adams, Logan Kelly, Harley Pridmore, Tommy Wildish, George Johnson, Jake Blevins, Owen Jacques, Owen Wells, Jude Rodwell, Josh Sennett, Dominik Wysocki. Subs both used; Emlyn Dellar-Moy, Curtis Head. (Although Rothwell’s teamsheet listed them as 1-11, but they actually wore squad numbers. Apologies if I have misidentified any of their players).
Yellow card; Pridmore (64) Foul
Referee; Wyndham Trusler.
Assts; Jack Walton & Ryan Eldred.
