It was the second round of our FA Youth Cup journey as Punjab, our FA representative team took on Lordswood FC.
The game started with FSA looking bright and positive. However after five minutes Lordswood had an opportunity to take the lead. Miscommunication between our defence lead to goalkeeper James Padgett being forced into an early save to keep the scores level. After 15 minutes, FSA PRO had developed a stronger hold on the game and were starting to create more chances, striker George Hughes was creating space for midfielder Cameron Ashia by making defence splitting runs. Unfortunately the good movement didn’t result in many clear cut chances. Lordswood then started to come into the game using their goalkeepers long kick to put pressure onto our back line.
It was a hard fought and frustrating battle but after 35 minutes we managed to combine outside the penalty area, a clever pass saw Charlie Sisarello break Into the box only to be brought down by a challenge from both sides by the Lordswood defenders. A controversial call from the ref but no penalty was awarded. Five minutes later another chance for FSA PRO as again Charlie Sisarello found himself coming in from the right hand side forcing a good save onto the post from the goalkeeper. Shortly after a soft free kick on the half way line given away by FSA PRO, saw a long ball played into the 18 yard box. The Lordswood striker managed to meet the ball first and found the corner of the net. That was the end of the action for the first half.
After an invigorating team talk from Manager Mark Smith the boys came back out with a inspired confidence. The second half kicked off and FSA PRO showed a new intensity. The boys were managing to keep possession and drawing the opponents out of shape allowing Lee Quincey and Cameron Ashia freedom to attack. An important turn during the game as this led to FSA PRO attacking midfielder Cameron Ashia to pick the ball inside the opponents half and carry it towards the 18 yard box a clever pierce of skill saw him beat his man and then rifle a shot into the top corner from 25 yards which brought the scores level on the 63rd minute.
Cameron’s goal looked to boost the confidence of the team along with the substitution of striker Tom Meredith. FSA PRO started dominating the game with chances becoming more regular, it only took 7 minutes for us to then take the lead with a well placed slotted through ball saw striker Tom Meredith find the bottom corner with a excellent finish across the goalkeeper. The rest of the game was very much played in the opponents half, opportunities for Charlie Sisarello and another for Tom Meredith saw us come close to increasing our lead. Lordswood didn’t look like threatening and a broken down counter attack saw them retreating to defend a cross into the box however it was turned in by FSA’s Marcus Anwar who topped off a fantastic game by scoring FSA’s third leaving the score Punjab 3-1 Lordswood. A charismatic comeback with brilliant individual moments saw FSA continue their journey into the next round.