Eton U14As –2 Aldenham-2
A scintillating goal the pinnacle of a superb comeback from young Etonians
Eton were looking to carry on from their 6-0 win over Battersea Park with another win. With Hugh Russell-Parsons back in between the goalposts, Eton’s defence would be more solid. Eton kicked off and the first five minutes were even but the first real chance fell for Aldenham when a through ball found the player it was intended for but Russell-Parsons did well to save the from the oncoming striker. Soon Aldenham were safely on top and in the driving seat. More and more chances came through defensive chaos, but all of them were well saved by Russell-Parson. At about half an hour in, Eton got their first real opportunity when a penalty was given. Stille stepped up and uncharacteristically blasted it over. However, Eton soon got the goal that was deserved from a good passage of attacking play from the home side when Hedges found Tony Morales in space with a good pass. Morales then hit it into the top right-hand corner. 1-0. Unfortunately, almost straight after the restart, an Aldenham long pass went straight through the defence when MacDonald failed to head it away and the striker just slotted it past Russell-Parsons with ease. The Eton defence had switched off. The half-time score: 1-1 Soon after the restart, Eton had pushed their opponents right back to the corner flag where Campbell-Harris fought well to get the ball, just failing with the long-shot. After a valuable contribution to the game, he was taken off for Jung Kim. Straight after the subsitution, Aldenham located an unmarked striker with a through ball. He then did well to score from a very tight angle. Despite Russell-Parsons putting in a very good performance, the defence was not playing as well as it has been. 1-2. However, straight after the goal, Eton controlled the game and played nice fluid, attacking football, passing well. It was then when Robbie Hedges, who was in my opinion the man of the match, chested the ball down and hit it on the half-volley into the back of the net from about 35-yards out, a goal of world class quality. 2-2 The match was now totally controlled by Eton but the last chance to win it came from an Eton corner when Kim missed the header and the ball bounced for Morales to hit it on the half-volley but it went well wide. The match ended 2-2 which could easily be a win for Mr Fussey’s rapidly improving 14As.
Billy Pratt (PMG)
