The Kent FA Under 16’s were blown away by their Middlesex counterparts at Salters Lane on Sunday afternoon.
Darren Phillips’ side gave a good account of themselves, but in the end it was the visitors to Kent that had the better of it in the blustery conditions at Faversham, coming out 5-1 winners.
Under the new management team of Phillips, Steve Devereux and Harrison Grant as his assistants, the Kent FA side found the conditions hard to deal with against the physically stronger Middlesex side.
It was a fairly even opening ten minutes to the game with neither side venturing too close to either goalmouth as the keepers stood on and watched the play in front of them.
Kent’s biggest threat in the opening period came from Thamesmead Town’s Keith Mupfururirwa as he made various runs down the left flank, causing the Middlesex defenders problems with his pace.
Meanwhile, Charlie Mitchell, Adrian Njoku and Junior Godspower combined well to make a break down the right for Middlesex, but resolute defending from Kent prevented the visitors from a getting a shot off.
It took until the 17th minute of the game for Kent to get their first sight on goal as Ebbsfleet United’s Casey Johnson fired goalwards, but Middlesex keeper Harry Churchill was equal to it.
A minute later and Frankie Keita was put clean through for Middlesex, but Chatham Town keeper Conor Shortall was down quick to gather at his feet.
Six minutes further on and Shortall was a spectator as Njoku dinked a ball just over the bar from the edge of the area.
Kent were to keep the pressure on the Middlesex goal and on 26 minutes, Mitchell Liang from Ramsgate tried his luck from a free kick by the left hand touchline that swirled on the breeze, but failed to catch out the Middlesex keeper.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 28th minute with Dylan Kearney letting fly from around 30 yards out and it sailed over Shortall into the top right hand corner to give Middlesex the lead.
The Kent side did their best to get back into the game, but conceded for a second time just before the break with Cieron Brown’s free kick deflecting off the wall and going over the bar.
From the resulting corner, the ball was swung in and Kent failed to deal with it, gifting Godspower with the chance to slam the ball home from around six yards out.
Four changes by Darren Phillips at the break saw Kent come out and go toe to toe with Middlesex for a spell, but they were to fall three behind eleven minutes into the second half as Kearney’s free kick curled around the wall and into the bottom right hand corner.
Just two minutes later and Kent were back in the game as Jake Treagus (Tonbridge Angels) swung in a free kick from the right hand touchline and with a touch of fortune, it came off the head of Middlesex’s Cieron Brown, over the keeper and into the goal.
It took Middlesex just two more minutes to restore their three goal lead though as Frankie Keita was played through and he slipped the ball under the legs of the advancing Shortall.
With the bit between their teeth, Middlesex made it 5-1 just three minutes later as Kearney capped off a fine individual performance and secured his hat-trick by slamming the ball home from outside the area.
A raft of changes from Middlesex disrupted the flow of the game for the remaining minutes, but there was still time for substitute George Della-Valle (Thamesmead Town) to test the Middlesex keeper with a speculative free kick that was turned around the post.
With the rain now beginning to lash down, Ibrahim Lukulay curled a shot just over the Kent bar, whilst Jake Treagus tried his luck from distance in the wind, seeing his effort sail over the keeper, but come back off the crossbar.
In the end, the scoreline suggests it was mostly one way traffic, but Kent will go away from the game feeling they will have learnt a lot from a hard fought match against opponents that have clearly spent a lot of time together.
FULL TIME: KENT FA UNDER 16’S 1-5 MIDDLESEX FA UNDER 16’S
Kent FA line up: Conor Shortall (Chatham Town), Jake Treagus (Tonbridge Angels), James McCormack (Corinthian), Mitchell Liang (Ramsgate – Harry Bradford (Thamesmead Town H/T), Harry Needham (Bromley), Charlie Plummer (Hollands & Blair – James Sutherland Thamesmead Town H/T), Jake Paxman (Ramsgate – John Brown (Hollands & Blair H/T), Bobby Watkins (Maidstone United), Casey Johnson (Ebbsfleet United – George Della-Valle (Thamesmead Town H/T), Josh Dalson (Welling United – Toby Heydon (Maidstone United 51), Keith Mupfururirwa (VCD Athletic).
Goal: Brown (og)
Booked: John Brown.
Middlesex FA line up: Harry Churchill, Charlie Mitchell (Zaquan Meade 66), Issa Brian (Ibrahim Lukulay 52), Lawrence Artik (Curtis John-Cyrus 61), Pio Malima, Cieron Brown, Adrian Njoku, Dylan Kearney (Taylor McCafferty 80), Junior Godspower, Frankie Keita (Keiron Noel 59), Andre Jaques.
Goals: Kearney x 3, Godspower, Keita.
Booked: Lukulay.
Referee: Mr Kane Dempster
Assts: Mr Ben Croucher & Mr Jason Andrews
4th Official: Mr Ian McGrath