City of Peterborough Under 18 boys put in strong Cup performance

EH U18 KO Cup 2nd Round:  City of Peterborough 14 – 1 Dereham

Heald (3), Abdulwahid (2), Bowden (2), Allen (2), Astle, Davies, Macdonald, Marshall-Grint, Wing

The City of Peterborough Under 18 team turned in an impressive overall performance in beating Dereham comfortably.

With a number of the squad now regularly playing a high level of hockey in the Men’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd teams, City were favourites and an upset never looked likely after the boys started so well. 

An early goal forced in by left back Jacob Marshall-Grint, was soon followed by a great reverse stick strike from Leo Davies that hit the underside of the bar and went in.  Next up, Davies found Ashfat Abdulwahid in the “D”, and Ash made no mistake, slotting the ball past the keeper for a 3-nil lead on 11 minutes.

City continued to dominate, and force a hard working Dereham team back into their ‘25, but couldn’t find the final pass and it took until the 20th minute for Louis Bowden to make it 4-nil with a sweetly struck shot from just inside the area. 

The fifth and sixth goals came from good finishes from Connor Allen, a player who had been a fitness doubt after a toenail injury on the Saturday.  Luckily, the “man-up” pills, prescribed by coach Paul Hillsdon (left), did the trick and Allen was able to play a full and important part in the whole game.

The final goal of the half came at a short corner from skipper Cameron Heald, who dribbled past the two runners, and beat the goalkeeper with a flick into the net. 

Going into the break at 7-nil up, coach Hillsdon was pleased with the dominant performance, but urged the team to improve the quality in the area and to look to make that extra pass for an easy finish, rather than take the shot themselves.

Despite the scoreline, Dereham started the second half much improved and started to create chances of their own.  Almost straightaway, they had managed to get one back, and grew in confidence.  They started to catch City occasionally on the break and both Sam Biccarino and Scott Howard were required to work hard and make some important tackles in defence.

After a period of 10 to 15 minutes, City had managed to get control of the game again and with Dereham coming forward a bit more, started to exploit the space.  Grady Wing was the next to get on the scoresheet, with a very composed finish at the end of a good move through the midfield.  Next Louis Bowden linked well with Cameron Heald, who scored his second and Heald completed his hat-trick and made it 10-1 a minute later after being put through by Abdulwahid. 

Goals for Tom Macdonald and a second for Louis Bowden followed after the ball was twice worked into the area and then passed smartly around the tiring Dereham defenders.  Abdulwahid scored the thirteenth after a dribble into the area and a nice acute angled shot.  The last goal came from Tom Astle, rewarded for his running up front, when he got on the end of another nice passing move.

The final result of 14-1 was perhaps a bit harsh on Dereham.  They battled honestly throughout and never made it easy for City, but the depth in squad and the quality of all-round play meant that dominance on the ball was turned into a big difference in the scoreline.  That is something that doesn’t always happen and is a positive for the squad to take forward to the next round.

The City of Peterborough Under 18 Team were:

• Samuel Miller (GK)
• Jacob Marshall-Grint
• Scott Howard
• Sam Biccarino
• Joe Phillips
• Cameron Heald (captain)
• Grady Wing
• Leo Davies
• Ashfat Abdulwahid
• Connor Allen
• Tom Seaton
• Louis Bowden
• Tom Astle
• Tom Macdonald.

City of Peterborough’s multiple goal scorers, from left to right – Cameron Heald, Ashfat Abdulwahid, Connor Allen and Louis Bowden.