Year 9 played Capital City Academy last night in the Brent Shield.
We were at full strength and took a great squad over to CCA for our first league fixture since November, with the season resuming.
Denis and Idhant took first time shots in an opening salvo that saw Ark burst out of the blocks. Obama showed some tidy dribbling skills on his return to the starting XI, then captain Alex bulleted a header in at the near post to give us a 1-0 lead. From the restart, Alex almost immediately doubled the lead with a drilled shot that flashed across the nearpost.
Alex continued to dominate upfront, and had some good shots well saved by the CCA ‘keeper. In defence, Tyrese and Helal made strong tackles to deny CCA breakaways. Sebby had a very quiet first half in goal. Meanwhile, Nedas at centre back was as calm as we've come to expect, but unfortunately others did rush when they could have taken an extra touch or lined up their shot. Before half-time, Edward doubled the lead from the spot, and we went in to the break 2-nil ahead.
To kick off the second half, Nedas dribbled out from centre back and laser-guided his finish from 24 yards into the bottom corner for a stunning goal. Obama made it 4 with a smart half volley off Barack's cushioned touch, following a surge down the left by Toby.
Awais then scored an even more astute goal, dribbling through midfield and letting ping from 30 yards. This was another fine long-range effort which spared the strikers blushes at times. Amidst the goals, it was great for Barack, Artur, Tyrese and Toby to all have their longest involvements of the season. With many substitutions to ensure game-time, we did ship 3 goals later on, with the final score 5-3.
Year 9 have won every game in the Brent Shield this season, have mathematically confirmed second place and a place in the final, and play Newman next week. If they win, they will top the Shield’s league and have a 100% winning season.
