A goal in each half gave Whitworth the points at Compton Park.
Tuesday 21st February 2023
UHLSPORT UNITED COUNTIES LEAGUE – RESERVE DIVISION
COGENHOE UNITED RESERVES (0) 0 WHITWORTH RESERVES (1) 2
Flourmen;
Richards 17
Bland 80
Att; 32
Ian Adcock’s team was bolstered by the inclusion of a few first team squad players as they entertained neighbours Whitworth Reserves under the Compton Park lights. Bailey Weatherly and Luke Andrews returned from suspension, while Luca Purse got in ninety minutes before his ban starts, with fellow subs from Saturday Dalton Leon and Jamie Snapes also being given ninety minutes.
A back-pass from centre back Dan Law put Charlie Nixon under pressure deep inside his box and the young keeper sliced his attempted clearance badly, but Snapes was unable to take advantage as the spin on the ball took it away from him, then Kian Prescod had a great chance to open the scoring down the other end after he had robbed Sam Harris wide on the left with James Hine now out of position, but with most of the goal now unguarded, he rolled his shot wide of the far post from around 30-yards out. Veteran Dan Spaughton fired over from the edge of the box following a corner, but the visitors took the lead on 17 minutes through former Cooks U18 player Jordan Richards. A low ball was played into the box from the right and Richards found himself clear through before stroking his shot past Hine.
Leon battled hard for the ball deep inside the Flourmen half allowing Harris to whip in a cross that Nixon caught on the edge of his 6-yard box, then a dangerous Weatherly free-kick from the right was curling in towards the back post where Law stretched to get his boot to the ball at the expense of a corner. Cogenhoe had a great chance to level things up when Snapes made a run through the middle and the ball broke nicely for Dan Webb inside the box, but he put his shot too close to Nixon who had come off his line to narrow the angle.
Matt Thornber went for goal direct from a free-kick 25-yards out, but Dan Talbot got his foot to the ball on the inside of the wall, then Weatherly brought down a long clearance just outside the box and Snapes hit his first-time shot over the bar. A great challenge from Law inside his own box denied Snapes after a good ball from Weatherly had created an opening, while Thornber had a shot blocked down the village end and the Cooks broke quickly with Gibbins finding himself in a great position just inside the box, but he couldn’t beat Nixon with his shot.
Half-time; Cooks 0 Flourmen 1
Adcock replaced Harris with Morgan Harrison before the restart as the Cooks had the better of the early action. Weatherly was penalised in the box for a foul on Law with the Cooks players appealing for a penalty, then a free-kick delivered from the right saw Weatherly rise at the back post, but his header was just the wrong side of the post. A good move by the Flourmen saw Thornber feed Patryk Malawski on the right and he played in a dangerous low ball to Aiden Garside at the near post, but the combination of Purse and Hine meant he had no room to get in a shot. Weatherly was looking lively and made a strong run into the box, but took a touch too much and Nixon was able dive on the ball.
Kieron Mobbs and Mirzan Noka were both given a run out just before the hour as Webb and Gibbins headed the other way, but it was Whitworth who went close when Garside did well inside the box on the right and hit a powerful shot that forced Hine into a good save at his near post, just before Weatherly went down injured and it was soon clear that he wouldn’t be able to continue, so Harris returned to the fray, then soon afterwards Dylan Carlin replaced Dan Talbot. Garside was well off target from 30-yards out as Whitworth pressed for a second goal as Cogenhoe continued to make changes on the field with Gibbins coming back on for skipper Lee Felgate with 19 minutes remaining.
A dangerous cross into the box was steered back to Hine who picked the ball up. Referee Clinton Ormshaw awarded an indirect free-kick which was technically correct, but still rather harsh considering this is may be the UCL, but not the UEFA Champions League. The ball was touched to Spaughton who hammered it goalwards, but Hine threw himself in front of it and palmed the ball away. Garside fed Harvey Bland inside the box on the right but his shot hit the side-netting, but the Whitworth sub was celebrating on 80 minutes. Garside broke into the box on the left and hit a decent shot that Hine could only parry and Bland followed up to roll the ball into the empty from point-blank range. Purse was shown the yellow card on 82 minutes, I assume for a foul but it was over the opposite side of the pitch and I didn’t have a great view of things. The final chance of the game came when the ball rebounded off Noel into the path of Snapes just inside the box, but a very timely tackle by Law denied him a shot.
Cooks; 1. James Hine 2. Sam Harris (sub 14. Morgan Harrison HT) 3. Dan Talbot (sub 12. Dylan Carlin 65) 4. Luke Andrews 5. Luca Purse 6. Lee Felgate © (sub Gibbins ret 71) 7. Connor Gibbins (sub 15. Mirzan Noka 58) 8. Dalton Leon 17. Jamie Snapes 10. Bailey Weatherly (sub Harris ret 64) 11. Dan Webb (sub 16. Kieron Mobbs 58).
Yellow Card; Purse (82) Foul
Whitworth; 1. Charlie Nixon 2. Patryk Malawski 3. Josh Morris 4. Almahad Suleiman 5. Dan Law 6. Dan Spaughton 7. Matt Thornber (sub 12. Harvey Bland 58) 8. Elliot Clarke © (sub 15. Tom Nixon 75) 9. Kian Prescod (sub 14. Alessio Kightley 89) 10. Jordan Richards (sub 17. Helmuts Prenclavs 85) 11. Aiden Garside (sub 16. Sonny Judge 85)
Referee; Clinton Ormshaw.
PHOTOS SUPPLIED BY FINBARR CARROLL.
