Escolla Football vs VWFC
14/10/2018 Escolla Football U16 3-1 Virginia Water U16M
Surrecy County Cup
Report by Alex Saunders
Waters' U16 in action against Escolla
Virginia Water's U16 Maroons took on Escolla Football in a fantastic game for the neutral to watch, in the Surrey County Cup, in torrential rain; a game that provided 4 goals, 2 red cards and countless 10 yard sliding tackles!
Escolla deservingly went ahead inside the first 20 minutes, as their dominance of the ball was rewarded. Waters, though, responded well and instantly with a counter attack down the right flank, Ryan Proctor crossing excellently to Lenny Markham whose finishing from close range was calm as he equalled the score.
In the second half both teams had big spells of possession but struggled to get the ball in the final third. With 15 minutes to go Waters failed to clear their lines and the referee awarded a soft penalty to Escolla - all watching felt there was a clear foul on the defender in the build up, and even when the decision was made, it was not clear what it was for. However, Escolla did not complain and the resulting spot kick put them 2:1 ahead, and Waters could feel a little hard done by.
With minutes to spare Escolla killed the game and made it 3:1 as Waters were pushing for the equaliser, and as a result did leave themselves a little exposed at the back. Waters had their chances but couldn’t take them on the day, but could be pleased with their efforts in matching the higher ranked home side.
The game ended in an ugly manner, though, an Escolla player still celebrating their goal, confronted a Waters player physically to the face for no reason and the ensuing scuffle resulted with a retaliation, and both teams had players sent off for violent conduct.
It’s absolutely fine to lose games when deserved, but when players are ungracious, aggressive and foul tempered it completely spoils a great game of football and was a blight on what was otherwise a good sporting contest. Waters manager Alex Saunders was embarrassed by the actions of the Escolla players, and has warned his players that that kind of unsporting behaviour will not be tolerated.
Waters await the visit of Finchampstead Sharks in their next game on Sunday 21st October, 10am kick off at The Timbers.
MoM: Lewis Henderson
Line Up:
Jamie Kokubun
Fin Jacques
Lewis Henderson
Kieron Buckley
Reece Harris
Reece Collins
Ryan Proctor
George Ford
George Miller
Arran Evans
Lenny Markham
Subs:
Jake Wooster
Harry Thatcher
Tej Patel
Tyler Bourne