Goals from Lee Felgate and Dan Webb not enough to stop Daventry taking the points at Compton Park.
Saturday 5th November 2022
UHLSPORT UNITED COUNTIES LEAGUE – RESERVE DIVISION
COGENHOE UNITED RESERVES (1) 2 DAVENTRY TOWN RESERVES (2) 4
Cooks;
Felgate 22 (pen)
Webb 76
Daventry;
Wells (og) 25
Lovell 43, 62
Paposeco 79 (pen)
Att; 25
Daventry Town travelled to Compton Park on a gloomy Autumn afternoon and despite their players all arriving an hour before the scheduled 2pm kick-off, their kit did not. Martin quickly dug out the old orange and black away kit and they happily went out the back to do their warm-ups. We had now almost got to 2pm and the away side had not only failed to hand in a teamsheet, they had now decided they didn’t want to play in the Cogenhoe kit they had got dirty in the warm-up and were waiting for their own to arrive. Despite the patient referee Chris Coles telling them to just change the shirts to avoid further delay, they ignored this and did a full change once their mint green kit had arrived and we eventually got under way at 2-10 pm.
The Cooks included two of last night’s subs in the starting line up as Lewis Green and Callum Farmer were given some game time as Ian Adcock was able to name a squad of fifteen after scraping just twelve for last week’s trip to Leicester.
The first half-chance of the game fell to skipper Lee Felgate inside the box from a well taken Farmer free-kick, but the ball was slightly behind where he would have liked it and he could only hook the ball wide of the far post. Kieron Mobbs found Sam Giddens on the left only for Robbie Meadows to cut out his cross, then Troy Haines got down to deny Glenn Cakebread as Cogenhoe enjoyed the better of the early play despite kicking into the breeze that blew straight down the pitch from the car-park towards the village. Giddens played Mobbs into the box on the left, but his low shot was too close to the keeper to trouble him, then Daventry looked dangerous as Harrison Paposeco tried to latch on to a scooped ball over the top, but Felgate was the stronger of the two as they went shoulder-to-shoulder and the visiting striker lost his balance and fell to the ground on the edge of the box.
The game swung Cogenhoe’s way on 22 minutes as Dan Webb was played through inside the box and he touched the ball past the keeper who had committed himself by sliding out taking the Cooks’ players legs from under him and Coles pointed to the spot. Lee Felgate stepped up and drove it to the keeper’s right. Haines managed to get a glove to it, but it so well struck he couldn’t stop it flying just inside his post and into the back of the net as Cogenhoe took the lead. The advantage only lasted three minutes though. Jimmy Lovell looked odds on to score at the far post after Ciaran Wells had palmed away a corner, but the next flag-kick from the left was a real beauty swung in by former Cooks player Ollie Emery that beat Wells in the air and hit the far post high up, but the ball then hit Wells and went into the net for an unfortunate own goal against the keeper. Unfortunately, we did not have a defender on the far post from the corner and it was 1-1 with all to play for again after 25 minutes.
Daventry had the ball in the net again a couple of minutes later as Wells missed a lofted ball in the air, but he had been impeded by Matt Gigante and the Cooks were awarded a free-kick. Sam Harris defended well to deny Paposeco as he ran on to an Emery clearance, whilst Meadows picked up the game’s first yellow card for a silly foul on Webb after 36 minutes. Lovell touched the ball through to Alex Mercer deep inside the box just to the right and he steered it wide of Wells. It was heading just wide of the far post, but Gigante was there with what appeared to be a tap-in, but he turned the ball into the side-netting. My angle wasn’t great so it may be that the ball had gone too far before the Daventry player got there, but his mates were not impressed that he hadn’t given his side the lead. The visitors did go in front for the first time two minutes shy of the interval though as Gigante played Paposeco clear inside the box on the left and although Wells did well to parry his shot, it left Lovell with a tap-in as he netted against his former club. The half ended with Farmer picking up a yellow card for a heavy challenge on Sonny Knights just inside his own half.
Half-time; Cooks 2 Daventry 2
Adcock made one change at the break as Giddens made way for Isaac Redding. A decent Webb corner resulted in another from the opposite side and Farmer’s delivery was even better, but we failed to take advantage as it curled into the far post. A Farmer free-kick was held cleanly at head height by Haines, then Redding went for goal from the right some 25-yards out, but his effort went the wrong side of the far post. Dan James made way for Regan Aylesbury on 53 minutes just before a strong run by Paposeco through the middle was matched by Joe Morris who made it difficult for him and he was off balance when he shot and Wells blocked his effort.
Redding cut in from the right and hit a great effort from 25-yards out that only just missed the target, while Felgate was a couple of yards too high with a wind assisted free-kick from fully 45-yards out. With the Cooks pushing for an equaliser, they were caught out on 62 minutes as Daventry added a third against the run of play. A lucky break as the ball hit Paposeco and fell kindly for the striker to get into the box where he steered the ball wide of Wells. Green tried to stop the ball from crossing the line just inside the far post. But Lovell was there to turn the ball in from point-blank range, His second of the game with a combined distance of about two yards in true striker fashion.
Lorenco Soulollari came on before the restart in place of Farmer which meant a little reshuffle on the park. Felgate played in a great free-kick from the left that Cakebread couldn’t turn home as he slid in at the far post, then Sam Davies did well to cut out a dangerous Mobbs cross at the near post. The final Cooks change came on 69 minutes as Will Westmoreland-Print replaced Mobbs. Haines reacted quickly to reach a ball floating in on the wind before Westmoreland-Print could get there, then another strong run from Paposeco was ended by a timely tackle from Morris. Westmoreland-Print exchanged passes with Redding before hitting a low shot from the right-side of the box that bobbled just in front of Haines, with the keeper having to turn the ball around the far post. Westmoreland-Print took the corner from the left and although it was headed off the line, Webb followed up with a first-time volley from 12-yards that flew into the back of the net. 2-3 after 76 minutes and game on once again. Emery was shown the yellow card on 68 minutes for a foul, but the optimism only lasted a few minutes as some nice play from the visitors saw them get into the box on the right and an unfortunate slip by Morris saw him lose his man and pull him back as he was about to shoot. Penalty to Daventry and thankfully just a yellow card for Morris. Paposeco stepped up to send Wells the wrong way with his low penalty and Daventry had a two-goal cushion again with eleven minutes left to play.
Battling play from Westmoreland-Print carved an opportunity for Cakebread with Haines fumbling his shot and the keeper was fortunate that the ball hit the shin of Webb who had followed up, before bouncing wide for a goal-kick. Dylan McGinley was booked rather than sin-binned for dissent on 87 minutes just before Green hit a 35-yarder that took a deflection wide for a corner. Westmoreland-Print made space for a shot 20-yards from goal and was only just off target, then after allowing Daventry the advantage, the referee showed Felgate the yellow card for a bad challenge on McGinley earlier in the move. Daventry survived a couple of dangerous late corners, but the last chance fell to the visitors after Wells had come well out of his area and Jonathon Joseph had lobbed it over the stranded keeper from 40-yards out with the ball drifting away from goal all the time. He had Paposeco just inside him unmarked had he not seen the headlines though.
Six goals to lift the spirits on a dull and increasingly wet afternoon, but sadly the end of Cogenhoe’s unbeaten run. Next week they are back at Compton Park when they face bottom club Raunds Town, again with a 2pm kick-off.
Cooks; 1. Ciaran Wells 2. Sam Harris 3. Lewis Green 4. Dan James (sub 14. Regan Aylesbury 53) 5. Joe Morris 6. Lee Felgate © 7. Dan Webb 8. Callum Farmer (sub 12. Lorenco Soullolari 62) 9. Glenn Cakebread 10. Kieron Mobbs (sub 16. Will Westmoreland-Print 69) 11. Sam Giddens (sub 17. Isaac Redding HT).
Yellow cards; Farmer (45) Foul. Morris (79) Foul. Felgate (90+1) Foul.
Daventry Tn; 1. Troy Haines 2. Robbie Meadows 3. Callum Calver © 4. Ollie Emery 5. Sam Davies 6. Sonny Knights 7. Dylan McGinley 8. Alex Mercer 9. Jimmy Lovell 10. Harrison Paposeco 11. Matt Gigante. Subs used; 12. David Sholu 14. Abdul Bolaji 15. Yaw Agyei 16. Jonathan Joseph. Sub not used; 17. Ben Morgan.
Yellow cards; Meadows (36) Foul. Emery (68) Foul. McGinley (87) Dissent.
Referee; Chris Coles
