Posh U18s progress into U18 David Joyce County Cup final.
Peterborough United U18s booked their place in the final of the U18 David Joyce County Cup after a 2-0 victory over Northampton O.N. Chenecks U18s on Thursday evening at Old Northamptonians Sports Ground.
After a quiet opening 10 minutes, where Posh enjoyed the majority of the ball, it was the hosts who carved out the first shot on target in the game, but an effort from the edge of the box was comfortable for Jake West. A free-kick from the left is met by Eweo Ekop inside the box, but his header is straight into the hands of West.
Posh broke the deadlock on 28 minutes as Andre Changunda’s low cross into the box was met by Josh Marcon, his first-time effort was blocked but calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner on his second attempt. Tyler Winters doubled their lead just two minutes later as he latched onto a poor touch from a defender, advanced into the box and fired home past the keeper.
In the closing stages of the first half, Winters curled his free-kick from the edge of the box wide of the post. Jamal Campbell-Ryce made a number of changes eight minutes after the break, including bringing on Harry Titchmarsh, who missed a brilliant opportunity within minutes as he sent a header over the bar from James Dornelly’s cross.
The hosts carved out another good opportunity just after the hour mark, which saw West into a low save. Reuben Marshall, who was introduced on 58 minutes, saw played through by Bayley McCann’s ball forward, he took the ball around the keeper and played it across, but none was inside the box to tap home.
Titchmarsh advanced into the box after good work to glide past two defenders, he pulled it back to Kelmendi who saw his effort deflected to Torin Ntege at the back-post, but he failed to make a clean connection.
Speaking after the game, Campbell-Ryce said: “I said to the players after the game, one word I would describe that game is professional. These cup games can be really tricky, but the players were at it from the start, moved the ball well and were patient. We got two good goals, one from pressing and one from decent play. Really happy to get the clean sheet and got to use all the players, making sure they stay fresh for the weekend. Overall, another positive performance, so I’m proud of the team as we are into the cup final, and now we have to just go and win it.”
Posh XI: West, Rose (Dornelly, 54min), Gilbert, Arthur (Toynton, 54min), McCann, Mills (Challinor, 54min), Beech (Titchmarsh, 54min), Marcon, Ntege (Davies, 77min), Winters (Marshall, 58min), Changunda (Kelmendi, 62min).