County Schools Cup final: St Martins 4 Kingsford Community 0
Matthew Blacklock scored two goals as the St Martins year seven boys team overcame a strong and well-prepared Kingsford Community to win the County Schools Cup in a thrilling fixture at Chigwell School.
Kingsford managed to get off to a great start, opening the scoring inside the first two minutes with a goal from Oghosa Williams which put St Martins on the back foot.
However, the Brentwood school managed to pull level when George Earthy struck a free kick into the top corner later in the first half.
Still applying plenty of pressure, Kingsford eventually netted again as a long ball over the top caught out the defence and allowed Jonas Mukuna to run through and finish coolly.
Kingsford continued to push forward and scored a third after a deflected effort was turned in by Ruda Sobhie, and the Newham school could have extended their advantage if it wasn’t for some impressive saves from Freddie Wilkens in the St Martin’s goal.
In the second half, St Martins came out strongly and pushed hard for an early goal, and a number of chances were missed before Denham Minors managed to head in at the back post to begin what was a game-changing five minutes.
Straight from the kick-off Matthew Blacklock pressured the ball high up the pitch, winning it back before unleashing a powerful effort into the top corner and draw St Martin’s level.
With only five minutes remaining, Blacklock then got in behind the defence to meet a perfectly-weighted pass before firing home into the bottom right-hand corner to give St Martins the lead for the first time in the game at 4-3.
St Martins managed to hold out for the remaining few minutes to take home the trophy after what was a memorable final.
St Martins: Freddie Wilkens, Matthew Blacklock, Ted Strange, Callum Robinson, Sonny Gunasekera, Elliott Jarvis, George Earthy, Pedro Lourenco, Oscar Jones, Jude Jones, Denham Minors, Ed Walker, Tof Majekodunmi, Toby Beeson, Oscar Howell, Harrison Poole.
Kingsford Community: Ilyas Sheik, Bobatito Bada, Joseph Akinsami, Rudhar Sobhie, Tyrese Boateng, Gideon Kodua, Jaudaan Mahmood, Jonas Mukuna, Oghasa Williams, Alain Junior Bokanga, Benjamin Adu, Kartel Best-Brown, Qusay Mohammed, Eishai Milner, Rio Mudhar-Hedley, Dylan Iduma
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