U15A make swift progress to round four of the ISFA cup
By Omer Demiral
In a busy week of football for the U15A squad. the Fourth Year footballers played their second match in the space of four days as they travelled to Cambridge to play Kimbolton Grammar School in round three of the ISFA competition.
From the start Hampton looked dominant. Their style of football had become conspicuous by this point; moving the ball swiftly and intricately they managed to open up opposition week-in-week-out. Hampton seemed to put an endless number of crosses into the Kimbolton box and their first goal rooted from this.
A cross swung in by James Queen was deflected and went out for a corner kick. The cross, whipped in with height and pace by Ben Moffatt, was met by the head of Ed Knott who diverted it across goal. The ball took a huge deflection off a Kimbolton defender and went into the back of the net. The goal was registered as an own goal.
Hampton found their second through another cross, met again by Knott who managed to poke it in at the far post, this time without any help from the opposition defence.
For the third goal Knott provided a superb cross which was headed home expertly by Josh King who worked his magic throughout the game. Michael Azoo, Hampton’s top-scorer and in form attacker bagged Hampton’s fourth after brilliant build up play down the middle from Sam Bond and King. The holding midfield pairing of Moffatt and Bond were simply masterful all game providing comfort for both defence and attack with their confident, secure and near flawless passing and dribbling.
Towards the closing minutes of the second half, James Queen got a well-deserved goal after blasting the ball through the keeper’s reaching gloves into the back of the net. An extremely strong and assuring first half performance from Hampton set the tone for the rest of the game as the score line was 5-0 heading into the second half.
Nick Herrero fuelled Hampton’s second half efforts. He seemed to latch on to every loose ball and he, Charlie Helm and Queen looked to attack the opposition at every opportunity which led to Hampton increasing their goal tally even further. The sixth goal came From Herrero himself as he tucked away a chance in front of goal. Soon followed the seventh via Azoo who’s technical ability really came to the fore after displaying such a tidy finish. Following this goal, Azoo went on an endless run dribbling past every defender who came near him, emulating some of the best in the industry. Kimbolton eventually gave in and Azoo was brought down in the box. Herrero picked up the ball and walked to the penalty spot. Slamming the ball straight down the middle he got his second and his team’s eighth goal of the game. The referee blew the final whistle and Hampton progressed to the round of 16 in ISFA after a resounding 8-0 victory.
