Witchford 0 City 9

County Cup - semi-final: 21st February 2010

City boys travelled to play Witchford in the County Cup Semi Final. With all 16 boys available we were at full strength to play a side who had surprisingly turned over Histon 'A' in the 1/4 final.

We lined up as follows :
BRANDON, YOUNGS, GUY, SPENCER (c), MARTIN, FLACK, BROWN, HOBSON, DRISCOLL, DARLING, POOLEY. subs : WRIGHT, HOWARD, WYMAN, NICHOLSON, SAPSFORD.

An early free-kick into City's box caused a little bit of panic, but in the end it drifted wide. We needed an early goal to settle us down and we duly obliged in the 4th minute. FLACK robbed the defender of the ball and laid it back to YOUNGS whose cross was headed down by DRISCOLL for DARLING to steer home. We nearly made it two soon after as HOBSON's good run and cross found GUY but his shot was well saved.

The next fifteen minutes saw lots of huff and puff from both sides as the game became a bit of a battle. SPENCER and MARTIN in the heart of the defence were keeping the Witchford forwards at bay and we doubled our lead in the 26th minute when keeper BRANDON bowled the ball out to MARTIN who in turn found YOUNGS. His ball up the line saw FLACK beat his marker and cross for POOLEY to finish. This soon became three from the penalty spot two minutes later after DRISCOLL was brought down. He got up, brushed himself down and despatched the penalty kick confidently.

In the 32nd minute we effectively killed the game off as BROWN won the ball in midfield and fed FLACK whose cross was neatly finished by DARLING. There was still time for another before the break when MARTIN's long ball was latched onto by DARLING to drill home with his left peg.

H/T Witchford 0 Cambridge City 5

We made five changes at the break. WRIGHT for BRANDON, SAPSFORD for YOUNGS, NICHOLSON for FLACK, WYMAN for GUY and HOWARD for HOBSON.

Despite an initial five minutes where we were getting organised again we totally dominated the half. In the 48th minute BROWN's lovely pass found DARLING who shot across the keeper only for it to hit the post. POOLEY was on hand to finish the rebound. Two minutes later it was seven. DRISCOLL played in NICHOLSON, but he was fouled for our second penalty. NICHOLSON calmly slotted home from the spot.

On 60 minutes we made four more changes with GUY replacing MARTIN, HOBSON on for BROWN, FLACK for POOLEY & YOUNGS for DARLING. We still controlled the rest of the match. DRISCOLL made it eight after good work between HOWARD and FLACK. Our final goal in the 77th minute came after WYMAN, FLACK & DRISCOLL combined to lay in NICHOLSON who clipped it past the on rushing keeper.

The final chance of the match fell to Witchford, but WRIGHT made an excellent save and SAPSFORD cleared the rebound to preserve the clean sheet our performance deserved.

F/T Witchford 0 Cambridge City 9

The boys were outstanding from 1 to 16. This could have been a tricky game and with the conditions it made it all the more likely of an upset. We were very professional in our performance and did not give Witchford any reason to think they could win the game. Well done boys and a FINAL to look forward to.

Cambridge City Boys Section