Bridgewood High 3–2 St John’s College
| 31 March, 2011
Bridgewood High nearly squandered their chance of a league title win in a nail-biting game against St John’s College.
‘Win this one, lads, and we are in with a big shout for the title. Give it your best shot,’ teacher Mr Cauldwell enthused as Bridgewood ran out onto their home pitch. The words of encouragement resounding in their ears, the team, in particular Dougie Butt and Angelo Del Paggio (who had been dropped in the last league game) played with their usual sense of urgency and confidence. Del Paggio ran rings around his opponents and Butt was on the scoresheet after ten minutes when he controlled a pass from Hamit Erbakan in midfield, flicked the ball up and volleyed it past the St John’s keeper.
Bridgewood’s next goal was gifted to them by the St John’s keeper, who rose above Johnny Cunningham to punch a corner over his bar, but instead parried the ball straight into his own net. Safe in the knowledge that they were two goals up, Bridgewood relaxed into the game. The midfielders took their foot off the pedal and twice allowed St John’s attacks to cascade through them and score, squandering the two goal advantage.
A half-time lecture from the teachers succeeded in giving the dishevelled Bridgewood players the boost they needed and they dominated the second half. Eager to atone for his first-half mistake, the St John’s goalkeeper made save after save as Duc Duong, Jack Mayhew and Timothy Houghton-Smith unleashed a volley of rasping shots, but to no avail.
With time running out, Del Paggio ran at the heart of St John’s defence, beating two players and nutmegging the St John’s keeper. The title is in sight for Bridgewood High.
Mr Mansell reporting from Goresbrook
Highs and Lows
| 25 March, 2011
I can’t believe that we have been knocked out of the cup! Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled that we made it so far in the competition, but we should have won the game against St Pauls.
For starters, we definitely deserved a penalty when Woodward was scythed to the ground. Second, St Paul’s winning goal was a mile offside! When you’re playing a team that is as good as St Paul’s you really need a bit of luck. Unfortunately, the only luck we got was of the bad variety!
Being knocked out of the cup has opened my eyes to how bad it must be for the pros when they get knocked out in the final stages of major competitions. Imagine going to Wembley to play in the FA Cup final and coming away with nothing! It’s also made me nervous about the boxing championship finals. I cannot imagine anything other than walking away with the belt. I need to keep my thoughts focused – if you get ‘the fear’ in the boxing game you’re stuffed!
Anyway, I hope that the climax to our league season will yield a bit of silverware to make up for the cup!
Catch y’all later.
BHFC Podcast #3: Interview with Timothy Houghton-Smith
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Cup match defeat for Bridgewood. Interview with Timothy Houghton-Smith.
Bridgewood High 2-3 St Paul’s Academy
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The semi-finals of the London Schools Cup Competition proved to be a tense and exciting match right up to the final whistle
Straight from kick-off, Bridgewood’s determination to reach the final of their first ever London Schools Cup Competition was apparent for all to see. Fifteen minutes into the game, a clever triangle of passes between Cork, Cunningham and Woodward created acres of space for a clear shot on goal. Maintaining his composure, Woodward skilfully slotted the ball into the back of the net, putting Bridgewood a goal up.
After the restart there was a tense period of St Paul’s possession. Thankfully, the pressure was alleviated when Jack Wilkins intercepted a sloppy pass and went on a hurtling run up the centre of the pitch, before chipping the ball into the opposition’s goal-mouth. A diving header by Johnny Cunningham screeched between the keeper’s legs, giving Bridgewood a two goal lead at half-time.
St Paul’s started the second half with five attacking players. It was an inspired move and within three minutes, St Paul’s had pulled a goal back. Their confidence restored, St Paul’s penetrated the Bridgewood defence time after time. For the next twenty minutes, the ball never travelled out of the Bridgewood end with Charlie Oakley, Sam Smith, Jack Mayhew and Timothy-Houghton Smith under constant siege. Their heroic resistance came to an end when a shot thundered in from one of St Paul’s best players, Wayne Mulroyd, skidding off Houghton-Smith’s knee and into the net.
With ten minutes to go, both teams were desperate to score, and the play became increasingly aggressive. An ill-timed tackle brought Woodward down in the St Paul’s penalty area, but was deemed fair by the referee. Urging themselves on for one last effort, both teams looked exhausted. With two minutes left on the clock, St Paul’s striker, Rushton Baynes, latched on to a pass that was a yard offside. Despite the foul, the linesman’s flag stayed down and Baynes went on to round Jasinski and tap the ball into the net.
There was not even time for the restart. Bridgewood had crashed out of the cup by the narrowest of margins.
Miss Cranson reporting from Goresbrook
Gutted!
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Knocked out of the cup! Gutted is the only polite word that I can use to describe how miserable I feel at this present time. I think that it would have been easier if we hadn’t secured a two goal lead at half-time and allowed ourselves to believe that we had already reached the final. Worse still, St Paul’s winning goal was a mile offside! Didn’t even have a chance to drag the ball out of the net – DOH!
Still, as Mr Mansell said, we have to pick ourselves up and concentrate on the league now. We are still in with a definite shout of winning the league and it would be awful if we failed to get something out of this season. Reaching the semis of the cup and being in a position to win the league would have seemed like a dream come true at Christmas. I just hope that we don’t stuff it up this time.
C
Pre-match Nerves
| 23 March, 2011
Starting to feel really nervous about the cup match tomorrow! St Pauls are a really good side and a few of the Bridgewood lads have yet to play a game of this importance. I’m not being big-headed, but I think that my training with the academy and experience of playing for London schools is a massive help when it comes to big games. Angelo is particularly nervous and is suffering from stomach cramps! I think the fact that a lot of our parents have booked time off work to watch the match makes things worse. Still on the flipside, it will be great to get the support. Nothing like a rousing chorus of the BHFC song to get you going (no pun intended Angelo!).
Keep checking to site over the next week. Mitzi is trying to persuade Mr Reeves to let her borrow some of the media kit so that she can produce a podcast of interviews with the players (very road to Wembley!). If she manages to blag the recording stuff there will be a podcast on the site in the next couple of days – just hope that we don’t lose!
Anyway, must dash as I have a pre-match training session to attend.
C
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