Bloods' cup hopes ended

Saffron Walden Town U-17 0, Comberton Crusaders 4

WALDEN slipped out of the League Cup on a mud-bath of a pitch to a team who just had better finishing power on the day.

The optimism for the Walden boys was high despite slippery conditions underfoot but it was Comberton who drew first blood, sliding in a cross to go one up after ten minutes.

The Bloods rode their luck for most of the rest of the half, aided by some poor finishing and some strong defending, especially from Connor Coppock on the right.

As often happens, the Walden boys started the second half on a high and for the first 20 minutes tried but just could not find the back of the net.

With just 15 minutes to go, Comberton cracked in two in as many minutes which effectively sealed the game.

As the pitch deteriorated, it was always going to be hard to come back despite some outstanding skill from Jimmy Hall and an excellent midfield performance from Tom Bush, the visitors sealing the win with a late penalty to move into the next round.

Saffron Walden U-9 A 1, Fulborn Falcons 1

OLLIE Patmore was on target for Walden as they were forced to share the Cambridgeshire League points.

An end to end encounter saw plenty of good football, with a draw a fair result.

Spartak Reds U-13 6, Priory Parkside A 2

INJURY-HIT Spartak overcame the odds to take the Cambridgeshire Colts League points on Sunday.

The Walden side were forced to play with only ten players, four of whom were carrying injuries.

Hamish Ritchie, playing in an unfamiliar role as a striker was magnificent as he dominated the left side. In the seventh minute, he ran almost the entire length of the field, beating three defenders.

As he cut inside the penalty box he lost the ball as it skidded away on the wet surface. Priory failed to clear properly and it fell to Ed Low whose shot from 30 yards sailed into the net.

The Reds were dominating the game and extended the lead on ten minutes, Priory had attacked but Wilson found James Kenyon with a great pass.

Kenyon cleverly sent the ball into space which Theo Hutchinson ran onto. Hutchinson saw Ritchie burst through and laid the ball off for him to score.

Priory did not make use of the extra space and man and the Reds continued to push forward and put the game beyond them with a third goal in the 21st minute.

Low cleared a rare Priory attack, the ball fell to Ritchie who shot off again down the left. He cut inside and passed to Kenyon whose shot was very well saved. The rebound fell to Hutchinson who had intelligently followed in and he side footed the rebound into the empty net.

Tired limbs allowed Priory to exploit the extra space and they reduced the deficit in the 47th minute.

The Reds defence failed to clear the ball and as it rebounded to the Priory attacker Raj, he coolly placed the ball wide of the diving Pooley.

Ritchie was in the thick of it as Priory resorted to rash tackles in an attempt to bring him down. Ritchie, showing deft footwork skipped past the challenges and in the 65th minute he found George Powell who coolly rounded the keeper to slot the ball home to extend the lead to 4-1.

Reds had found a second wind and forced a corner. Jack Mitchison, running in from defence, met Powell's corner and thought he had scored with a great header but Priory cleared off the line.

Parkside's relief was short lived as Ritchie again galloped down the left wing. He again drew the goalkeeper to the edge of the box and with the goal beckoning, he unselfishly passed to Hutchinson who netted his second of the game.

Nothing could stop Ritchie who had switched to the right wing to link with Powell. Ritchie laid the ball into the path of Powell who ran on to score his second and Spartak's sixth before the visitors managed a late consolation.

Grampian Gunners U10-B 1, Aztecs Junior A 5

AZTECS Junior recovered from an early setback to defeat a spirited Gunners side.

The hosts started well and Aztecs goalkeeper Ben Linsdell was kept busy in the early stages.

It was the Gunners who deservedly opened the scoring when a cross shot was deflected into the back of the visitors net.

Player of the match Ben Paterson had to make several strong clearances to prevent the home side increasing their lead.

However it was Toby Goodship who replied for the away side just before the break when he met a cross from Sam Goodwin, and lob the keeper from close range.

Aztecs roared into the second half and three goals in 10 minutes effectively put the game beyond the Gunners reach.

Tyler Thurgood first slotted home after a superb through ball from Alastair Green - who scored himself three minutes later by finishing with a well-struck shot.

Callum Hayes followed up a parried strike from Thurgood to score his first goal of the season as Aztecs continued to create chances.

Hayes then went close with a free kick that curled just wide of a post.

Some resolute defending from Conor Cottage ensured that the hosts did not add to their goal tally and it was left to Luke Wood to wrap up the scoring for the Aztecs when he found the net following a fast flowing move down the left.

Spartak U-14 4, Fulbourn 5

DESPITE the atrocious conditions both teams fought a tough battle that saw Fulbourn hang on for a victory.

Fulbourn took the lead in the first half only for Spartak to be awarded a penalty as David Anthony was taken down. Matty Cullingworth coolly stepped up and equalised from the penalty spot.

Early in the second half the conditions played their part in two sloppy goals being scored to give the visitors a 3-1 lead.

Spartak pushed on to try and get back in the game only to suffer the killer blow of another two goals as Fulborn went 5-1 up.

Then the tables were turned as Spartak launched wave after wave of attack which culminated in Conor Foxall being bundled over in the box and the subsequent spot kick being converted by Cullingworth for his second of the game.

Then it looked like a wonderful comeback was on the cards as Foxall scored with a sublime finish straight from a Fulbourn goal kick.

Soon after a lengthy kick from keeper Robbie Osborne well found Jamie Wright and he slotted it home providing a brave finish to a great build up to make the score 5-4. but that was as close as Spartak got.

Saffron Walden U-12 B 2, NST Strikers 2

WALDEN were forced to settle for a draw despite controlling long periods of the game.

This game was played in difficult conditions, but Walden put on a great show enjoying the majority of possession.

Matthew Green struck a fine shot into the top right hand corner of the net to give the hosts a deserved lead midway through the first half.

Ciaran Wood in goal had a relatively quiet game but pulled off a flying save to tip a goalbound shot around a post.

NST equalised early in the second half, this did not stop Walden dominating the game with some good passing moves both down wings and a cross from the right created the chance for Franco Almeida to restore the lead.

NST pulled level again, still Walden pressed but they failed to find the killer goal despite George Brignal coming close with two free-kicks in the closing stages of the match.

NST Strikers U-14 1, Aztecs A 1

AZTECS A left it late to claw their way back into this match, but ground out a deserved point in this soggy encounter.

NST pressed hard and forced a fantastic reflex save from Bentham at point blank range.

A further attacking move saw NST carve through the defence and place the ball into an empty net.

Aztecs had some gilt-edged chances to draw level, Tournant wrong-footed the NST defence to feed Orriss, whose shot was wide, and then took two precise corner-kicks which were headed just wide by Savill and Harvey.

Bentham produced a stunning diving save to keep Aztecs in the game early in the second half.

A shot from Tournant seemed to bobble between the keeper's legs and stop on the line.

Udall stormed down the pitch to outpace the NST defence but the final shot was agonisingly wide.

Shots were traded at either end, before Basham powered through the defence and fired in a great low shot to square the match.

Ely Crusaders U-16 6, Spartak 3

SPARTAK remain bottom of the table after a 6-3 defeat away at Ely on a cold damp Autumn afternoon.

The visiting team knew it was going to be one of those days when a 25 yard free kick from Jordan Parish beat the wall and the keeper only for the goal to be ruled offside and a long range shot from Adam Day crashed back off the cross bar with the Ely keeper well beaten.

Ely eventually took the lead with a breakaway goal but Spartak responded well and took a 2-1 lead after excellent work from Keiran Hunt and Jordan Parish set up Jack Baker who clinically finished.

Manager Nigel Webb made a few tactical changes in the second half bringing on debutant Jordan Minet and pushing Lewis Luscomb further forward as they chased for goals.

Ely continued to enjoy a lot of counteracting on the break and scored a further three goals in the second half. Jordan Parish scored a late consolation after some good approach work from Bradley Plumb and Lokesh.

Plantation U-9 A 2, Hundon Hawks 0

THIS was a hard fought victory for Plantation. The game was played on a very heavy pitch both sides did well to create an enjoyable game for the large crowd.

Although not having won all season Hundon came to win & competed very well, but Plantation kept to the task and created many good chances.

Finally the break through came with Tom Pluck scoring twice for the home team to seal the win.

Thomas Wilson probably edged man of the match, while George Clarke and Jack Cornell also deserve a mention.

Steeple Bumpstead U-10 B 1, Sawston United Youth 6

A HAT-TRICK from Liam Moir and goals from Daniel Tustin, Sam Browne and Jason Pacey secured a 6-1 win for Sawston United Youth on Saturday.

A good second half was required from Sawston as Steeple Bumpstead worked hard in the first half to keep the score to 2-1.

Huntingdon Rowdies U-11 1, Saffron Walden A 3

THE young Bloods marched into the third round of the cup after beating a determined, hard working Huntingdon.

Walden could not control the match in the first half because of good pressure from Huntingdon. Both teams defended well and possession was lost by Walden with every 50-50 ball being won by the Rowdies.

Pressure from Huntingdon was rewarded when an attack down the right breached Walden's defence and a fine finish gave the home side the lead.

Walden knew they had to step up a gear and immediately in the second half their hard work was rewarded when Harry Ilott scored his first of the season.

With new found confidence Walden soon took the lead when Dylan Reams passed to Jed Bevington whose shot was parried by the keeper into the path of Jordan Smith who slotted the ball home.

Walden continued to dominate and finally the game was won when George Templeman burst through the Rowdies defence and scored with a fine finish to round off a great second half display of teamwork.