WEST HAM UNITED
fOOTBALL PROGRAMMES
A Pictorial HistorY
steve marsh & stuart allen ...
1996-97 South East Counties League : Division I
No programmes were issued for West Ham United's HOME matches played at Chadwell Heath.
IPSWICH TOWN : South East Counties League - Division I
Away
2 -1 (Boylan, Alexander)
17th August 1996
Our youngsters opened their South East Counties League programme with a trip to Suffolk to play our East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town.
Although we fielded six of last season's Championship side,Tony Carr's lads found that the home side were not overawed by our reputation as title holders and for much of the first half we found ourselves outplayed. A couple of good saves by Alex O'Reilly and some close misses meant that we ended the half grateful for a goalless scoreline when, realistically, we might well have been three goals in arrears.
We begun the second half a lot better, with play more evenly spread between the two teams, but conceded a goal in the 60th minute as O'Reilly could only parry a free-kick given away on the edge of the penalty area and Ipswich reacted first to net the rebound. Our goalkeeper was very disappointed in being beaten by such an effort.
The goal prompted us to make three substitutions in an attempt to salvage a point with the result that we took off a defender and played an extra forward up front as well as altering our midfield. It was not until the 87th minute that the ploy had the desired effect and we finally got an equaliser when Chris Coyne moved up from the back, into midfield, and hit a terrific shot that rebounded off the crossbar. Lee Boylan was the first to react and swept the ball home for his first goal of the new campaign.
It appeared that the points were to be shared but, surprise, surprise, in the dying seconds of the game Boylan chased a long clearance out of defence, down the right flank, and hooked the ball across the face of the goal where
substitute Gary Alexander had arrived and was able to fire home on his debut.
O'Reilly
Moore
Keith
Bowen
Coyne
Partridge (Alexander)
Etherington (McCann)
Nieminen (Purches)
Boylan
Bartley
McFarlane
SORRY NO IMAGE
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GILLINGHAM : South East Counties League - Division I
Chadwell Heath
0 - 0
24th August 1996
O'Reilly, Moore, Keith, Partridge, Bowen, Coyne, Purches, McFarlane (Sains), Bartley (Alexander), Boylan, Etherington
Gillingham were the visitors to Chadwell Heath on Saturday 24th August and proved to be as usual, very difficult to beat. The final result could have gone either way. Both sides created chances although really clear-cut openings were few, as there was more reliance on hard work rather than guile from both teams.
The closest Hammers came to scoring was when Craig Etherington hit the crossbar but Gillingham also had a couple of near misses. So a draw was, at the end of the day, a fair result.
QUEENS PARK RANGERS : South East Counties League - Division I
Chadwell Heath
3 - 1 (Bowen, Ferdinand, Etherington)
31st August 1996
Finn, Moore, Keith, Coyne (McCann), Bowen, Partridge (Alexander), Sains, Ferdinand, Bartley (Henry), Boylan (Fearnley), Etherington
Queens Park Rangers were the visitors and found our youngsters in impressive form as we put on our best display of the season so far. The West Londoners began well but we took a 15th minute lead when a Joe Keith comer was headed down from a ruck of players and Justin Bowen poked the ball home. Twelve minutes later, Etherington set Lee Boylan away down the right-flank and Rio Ferdinand finished off a good run from deep when he took the centre from the Irish Youth international and rounded the goalkeeper before putting the ball into the net.
For the first 20 minutes after the interval the QPR youngsters got on top, and back into the game, when they scored in the 60th minute. Gradually our lads stemmed the flow and finally killed off the match in the 76th minute when Keith's pass down the left to Ferdinand enabled the England youngster to get to the bye-line before cutting back a centre to Etherington who scored with a side foot volley.
Afterwards, former West Ham boss Billy Bonds, now manager of the Young Rangers, said he was pleased with the way his team played but naturally disappointed with the result whilstTony Carr, the Hammers' manager, was pleased with both his team's performance as well as the two points.
NORWICH CITY : South East Counties League - Division I
Colney Training Centre
1 - 2 (Boylan)
7th September 1996
An undefeated run in the South-East Counties League since last November for our youngsters was finally ended when they travelled to Norwich City. The circumstances which lead to the loss of that record were somewhat bizarre.
In the 20th minute a cross from the Norwich left went something like two feet over the bye - line before being knocked back into the centre by one of their players. As our defence stopped, in anticipation of a goal-kick being awarded, a Norwich forward controlled the ball and knocked it past Neil Finn. Despite the protests of our players the referee awarded a goal .
Ten minutes before half-time we equalised when Gary Alexander robbed an opposing defender and put Lee Boylan through. Lee cleverly drew the goalkeeper before sidefooting the ball home. After the break the Hammers started much more brighter and were more dominant as we created chances which unfortunately we could not capitalise on. Denying the young EastAnglians any real attempts at goal, despite their efforts, our youngsters looked in command until a defensive mix-up led to an unforced error as a loose pass from David Partridge resulted in Norwich getting away down their right-flank before crossing into the middle and scoring Despite this second set back we
might still have salvaged a point near the end, when substitute. Danny Fearnley centred to Danny Bartley; another of our subs.: but the youngster pushed his shot just past the post as he stretched to meet the cross.
Finn
Moore
McCann
Bowen (Miller)
Henry
Partridge (Fearnley)
Etherington (McCann)
Sains
Boylan
Alexander (Bartley)
Keith
CHARLTON ATHLETIC : South East Counties League Cup (First Round)
Chadwell Heath
2 - 1(Boylan (pen), Bartley)
14th September 1996
Finn, Moore, McCann, Henry, Bowen, Partridge, Sains, Etherington (Fearnley), McFarlane, Boylan (Goodwin), Bartley
At Chadwell Heath on Saturday 14th September the youth-team set out on the first of this season's Cup tourneys when Charlton Athletic were the visitors in the First Round of the South East Counties League Cup.
The South London youngsters were perhaps somewhat unlucky to eventually finish on the losing side as on four separate occasions they were denied by the woodwork. In an even well-fought game the visitors found our goalkeeper Neil Finn on form as he first tipped a goal-bound effort against his crossbar and then made several sound saves to further deny the opposing forwards in the opening period.
We finally broke the deadlock in the 39th minute when overlapping full-back Jason Moore was tripped as he moved into the penalty-area and from the resulting spot-kick Lee Boylan netted to give us an interval lead. Our lead was further extended in the 78th minute much to Charlton despair when Danny Bartley sidefooted home at the near post from a right-wing cross. With eight minutes to go Charlton finally found the back of the net to set up a tense finish but once again we were thankful for the intervention of the goal framework to advance us to the next Round where we are away to Wimbledon.
PORTSMOUTH : Southern Junior Floodlit Cup (First Round)
Upton Park
3 - 1 (Boylan 2, Ferdinad)
17th September 1996
Three days later Portsmouth were the visitors to Upton Park for a First Round tie in the Southern Junior Floodlit Cup.The South Coast youngsters had won the previous Saturday in the League Cup by 3-0 at Swindon Town, the current leaders of the Second Division.
Hammers took the lead in the 15th minute when a cross from Jason Moore was headed over the Pompey goalkeeper, as he came out to collect the ball, by Lee Boylan. Twenty minutes later Boylan was again on target when a bail broke free and a defender in trying to push it back to his 'keeper, under-hit his pass and our Irish Youth international nipped in and scored.
In the second-half we night well have extended our lead through Rio Ferdinand but he had his first shot parried and the rebound fell awkwardly which resulted in his second effort ballooning over the bar. Portsmouth were then rewarded for their endeavours when they advanced upfield and a defensive slip-up allowed them to reduce the arrears In the 69th minute. Within a minute, Neil Finn had to make a full-length diving save in order to prevent an equaliser.
The next ten minutes saw both sides come close to scoring with Chris Sains, Boylan and Ferdinand all having efforts saved whilst at the other end Anthony Henry cleared off the goal-line. With nine minutes to the final whistle we finally edged in front, a short comer to the edge of the area by David Partridge was Joe Keith crossed into the centre by Joe Keith, after he turned inside a defender, and Henry volleyed home into the corner of the net.
In the next Round we are away to Wolverhampton Wanderers who beat Luton Town by 2-1 the same evening.
Finn
Moore
Keith
Coyne (Wells)
Henry
Partridge
Etherington (Bartley)
Sains
Boylan
McFarlane
Ferdinand
LEYTON ORIENT : South East Counties League - Division I
Chadwell Heath
3 - 3 (Boylan, Moore, Alexander)
21st September 1996
Finn, Moore, Keith (Wells), Coyne (Nieminen), Henry, Partridge, Etherington (Goodwin), Sains, McFarlane, Boylan, Alexander
We resumed our League commitments the following Saturday when Leyton Orient came to Chadwell Heath. A scoreless first-half was followed by a six-goals burst in second period.
The visitors, under the guidance of former Hammer Paul Brush, played with a lot of spirit and made things difficult for our lads in a closely contested typical local derby. Lee Boylan gave us the lead three minutes after the interval when he hit a left foot shot on the turn following a ball over the top.Two goals in ten minutes then put Orient in front before Anthony Henry combined with Boylan for the latter to cross to the far post where Jason Moore headed home In the 70th minute.
From that point we should have gone on to win but an error by Neil Finn when he came out and failed to collect a long high ball resulted in the young O's once again taking the lead as the ball was deflected Into our net. In the final minute we equalised to share the points when substitute Mikko Nieminen hit a post and the ball rolled out to Carl Alexander who did extremely well to hit a left foot shot into the roof of the net from a difficult angle.
CAMBRIDGE UNITED : South East Counties League - Division I
Away
4 - 0 (McFarlane, Boylan 3)
28th September 1996
The last Saturday in September saw the Youth Team record an emphatic 4-0 victory when they travelled to hosts Cambridge United for a South East Counties League match.
The highlight of the game was a first of the season hat-trick from Republic of Ireland striker Lee Boylan. In the opening period we faced a strong wind which made playing conditions difficult, but our youngsters created enough chances to have gone in at the break comfortably ahead. It was not until two minutes after the interval that we finally broke the deadlock when Anthony McFarlane notched his first goal of the season. Taking firm control, following that boost to their confidence, our lads then increased their advantage ten minutes later when Boylan struck. Two goals in as many minutes just before the final whistle sealed the victory as Boylan's industrious chasing, harrying and closing down of opponents proved the deciding factor in the difference between the two teams. A wider winning margin would not have flattered our victory.
CHELSEA : South East Counties League - Division I
Away
4 - 0 (Ferdinand, McFarlane, Nieminen, Goodwin)
5th October 1996
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A week later Chelsea were the visitors to Chadwell Heath and found our youngsters continuing the form of the previous Saturday as they ran in another four goals without reply.
Jason Moore down the right-hand side his first-time cross was nestled in the back of the net by Rio Ferdinand with a powerful header from ten yards. Anthony McFarlane then scored with a shot, after his first effort was blocked, following a corner and Mikko Nieminen then sealed matters three minutes before the interval with his first-ever League goal for us. It was McFarlane who created the chance as he once again pressurised a defender and the ball broke loose to the Finnish Youth international who pounced and calmly drew the goalkeeper before walking the ball into the Chelsea net. The visitors although ending the half three down had not been unimpressive in their own play but had found our lads just that bit too good for them. Continuing our superiority in the second-half we finally added a fourth tally when Joe Keith and the ever-willing McFarlane combined in a short corner ploy and the latter's cross was headed home by an unchallenged Goodwin with ten minutes to go.
FULHAM : South East Counties League - Division I
Away
2 - 3
12th October 1996
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WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERS : Southern Junior Floodlit Cup (Second Round)
After suffering a disappointing defeat the previous Saturday at Fulham in the League, the youth-team travelled to the Midlands on Wednesday 16th October for their second round Southern Junior Floodlit Cup match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.
Showing great character, virtually the same team (Rio Ferdinand was drafted in as the only exception) bounced back to record a convincing 4-1 victory over their hosts and move into the next round where they will meet Arsenal at Highbury. The highlight of the evening was once again a hat-trick from Republic of Ireland striker Lee Boylan - his second in our colours in under three weeks. In the 20th minute we opened the scoring when Ferdinand converted a penalty given as a consequence of Chris Sains being tripped as he advanced into the opposition's area. Fifteen minutes later we increased our lead when Gary Alexander dispossessed the Wolves centre-back and slipped a pass to Boylan who scored with a right foot shot from the edge of the box.
Ten minutes after the interval Lee Goodwin moved out of defence with the ball and sent Sains away through midfield.The Hornchurch youngster then fed Boylan in the inside-left channel who finished the move with a left foot shot into the net. With just over 20 minutes to go we wrapped things up when Goodwin once again moved out from the back and found Alexander with his pass. A first-time knock on to Jason Moore, who was overlapping down our right flank, gave the full-back an opportunity to cross a great ball into the middle where Boylan was on hand to head home at the near post.
With ten minutes to the final whistle Moore turned from saint to sinner when he tripped his Wolves wing opponent to concede a penalty and give the young Wanderers an opportunity to score from the resulting spot kick and net a consolation goal.
Molineux
4 - 1 (Ferdinand [pen], Boylan 3)
16th October 1996
WIMBLEDON : South East Counties League Cup (Second Round)
Selhurst Park
1 - 0 (Coyne)
19th October 1996
Finn
Moore
Keith
Goodwin
Henry
Coyne
Etherington (McFarlane)
Ferdinand R.
Alexander (Bartley)
Boylan
Sains
Wimbledon's youngsters once agin proved a difficult side to beat when we met them in our Second Round League Cup-tie.
The young Dons dominated the opening 45 minutes and put us under a lot of pressure. During this period our defence held on strongly to enable us to start the second-half all-square.
Once again showing great character our lads got back into the game after the break as they created more space and gradually produced the better opportunities as they battled to break the deadlock.We should have taken the lead in the 75th minute when Joe Keith following another of his forages down the wing, dribbled into the box but was brought down as he was about to cross the ball. Unfortunately, Rio Ferdinand blazed the resulting spot-kick over the crossbar.
Ferdinand almost made amends when a loose pass by a Dons' defender was intercepted and Rio drew the opposing goalkeeper before cutting back his pass to Lee Boylan who in trying to place his effort had his shot blocked on the goal-line.
As the tie was still not decided at the end of the 90 minutes the competition rules allow for extra-time of 15 minutes each way to be played rather than the normal practice of a replay ensuing at the away team's ground. Within two minutes of the first period the deadlock was finally broken when Chris Coyne moved out of defence with the ball, exchanged passes with Danny Bartley, and forced his way through before driving home a low right-foot shot from the edge of the box. From then onwards we continued to hold firm and win through.
In the next Round we meet Colchester United at Chadwell Heath in a month's time.
WATFORD : South East Counties League - Division I
Chadwell Heath
3 - 0 (Alexander 2, Partridge)
26th October 1996
Finn, Moore, Keith, Goodwin, Henry, Coyne (Partridge), Purches, Ferdinand R., Bartley (Fernley), Alexander (McFarlane), Sains
Returning to League action our Youth Team entertained Watford and finished as convincing victors by three clear goals.
In control for most of the game it was another good performance by Tony Carr's aspiring youngsters. We opened the scoring in the 16th minute when a move down the right resulted in full-back Jason Moore cutting the ball back to Chris Coyne who drove his shot across goal where it was converted at the far post by Gary Alexander. With a minute to go before the half-time interval we extended our lead when Stephen Purches took a corner out on the left. His viciously inswinging right foot cross was headed home by Alexander once again as he got in front of the visiting goalkeeper to net a well-taken goal.
After the break we continued to dominate and dictate the play against a hard-working Watford side who never gave up. Four minutes after coming on as a 61st minute substitute for Coyne, David Partridge sealed the victory. Another corner by Purches, this time from out on the right, was flicked on by Alexander with a near post header to Partridge who forced home his shot from close range at the far post.
PORTSMOUTH : South East Counties League - Division I
Away
2 - 0 (Ferdinand R. 2)
2nd November 1996
Finn (Purches), Moore, Keith, Goodwin, Henry, Coyne, Sains, Etherington, Bartley (McFarlane), Alexander, Ferdinand R.
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A week later we travelled to Portsmouth for another League match and once again our youngsters proved to be unbeatable, and keeping a third successive clean sheet, despite losing goalkeeper Neil Finn before half-time with concussion following a kick in the face. In the 35th minute we went ahead when Jason Moore spearheaded another fine attack down the right flank and put over a centre which Gary Alexander flicked on for Rio Ferdinand to head home powerfully. Five minutes later we had to rearrange our line-up with the enforced departure of Finn and as we did not have a second goalkeeper amongst our nominated substitutes, as deputy custodian Alex O'Reilly is also sidelined with a broken finger and thumb, Alexander donned the green jersey and went between the posts. Stephen Purches came on for Finn and played in mid-field. Though he was largely protected by his colleagues in front of him Alexander was however, still called upon to make a number of good saves and deal with some telling crosses - all of which he did with great confidence. With a minute to go before the final whistle we sealed the victory with a second goal when Joe Keith broke out of defence down the left-wing and played the ball in behind the Pompey defence to Ferdinand who controlled the cross well before firing in a low shot to the home goalkeeper's left. It was a well deserved win that was contributed to by all the members in an excellent team effort.
MILLWALL : South East Counties League - Division I
Chadwell Heath
3 - 0 (Etherington, Bartley, Coyne)
9th November 1996
Finn, Moore (McCann), Keith, Goodwin, Henry, Coyne, Purches, Etherington (McFarlane), Alexander (Fernley), Bartley, Sains
The youth-team extended their unbeaten run to a fifth consecutive game when they entertained South London rivals Millwall. Although not hitting peak form, our youngsters still played well enough to convincingly beat their visitors who were just one place below them in the table in fourth place. We took the lead in the I9th minute when a good through ball by Chris Sains split the Lions defence and led to Craig Etherington having a shot which was deflected to Danny Bartley who saw his effort rebound off a Gary Alexander defender to the alert Etherington who finally scored. On the stroke of half-time Jason Moore and Stephen Purches combined well down the right-flank and the latter's squared ball inside was well converted by Bartley.
After the break, Hammers continued to dominate and increased our lead by adding a third goal when Joe Keith's near-post corner was flicked on by Lee Goodwin to Chris Coyne who headed home. Remaining rock solid once again at the back, our defence never let Mi 11 wall's attack get into the game and for the fourth successive Saturday kept a clean sheet.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR : South East Counties League - Division I
Spurs Lodge
0 - 0
16th November 1996
Finn, Moore, Keith, Coyne, Henry, Partridge, Purches, Etherington, Bartley, Alexander (McFarlane), Sains (McCann)
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Despite being the better team on the day and creating more clear cut chances, our youngsters could only manage to draw with hosts Tottenham Hotspur in their first League encounter of the current campaign with the North Londoners. Strikers Gary Alexander and Danny Bartley were the principal culprits in our failure to find the net as the former had two good opportunities to score whilst the latter lost control at the vital moment when it looked more likely that he would score to continue our winning sequence. Our rearguard once again proved invincible as they maintained a stranglehold on Spurs and we never looked in trouble.To the watching spectators it seemed to be only a matter of when, not if, we would score. Unfortunately, from our point of view by the end of the 90 minutes the Spurs youngsters had managed to scrape a share of the spoils more by our lack of finishing power than by their own endeavours. Although it must be considered a point lost from our view, nevertheless, we should not lose sight of the fact that the new members of the squad who have been drafted into the team this season have done exceedingly well so far.
ARSENAL : Southern Junior Floodlit Cup (Third Round)
Highbury
0 - 1
19th November 1996
A visit to Highbury for our Southern Junior Floodlit Cup quarter-final-tie against Arsenal on Tuesday 19th November resulted in a disappointing exit from the competition.
Although missing regular skipper Rio Ferdinand (away on loan at Bournemouth) and injured Republic of
Ireland striker Lee Boylan, we could have no real complaints about the final result because on the night our youngsters did not perform to their usual current high standards.
Despite heavy rain during the day and for most of the first-half, the Arsenal pitch was in good condition. However, with 20 minutes to go the Young Gunners finally broke the deadlock as they burst out of defence. In a long forage upfield their centre-back, Matthew Wicks, son of former Chelsea favourite Steve Wicks, created an opening for himself and fired in a shot which hit our goalkeeper Neil Finn on the hip before looping over his head and bouncing into the net.
It was the type of incident that makes the difference between two evenly balanced teams and who goes into the next round -on this occasion it was Arsenal -but we must also give them credit for making things difficult for us and taking the one real chance they got.
Finn
Moore
Keith
Coyne
Henry
Partridge (McCann)
Purches
Etherington
Bartley
Alexander
Sains (McFarlane)
COLCHESTER UNITED : South East Counties League Cup (Third Round)
Chadwell Heath
5 - 1 (Alexander, Etherington 2, Purches, McCann)
23rd November 1996
Finn, Moore (McFarlane), Keith, Partridge, Henry, Coyne, Purches (McCann), Etherington, Bartley (Nieminen), Alexander (Fernley), Sains
Four days later a visit from Colchester United to Chadwell Heath proved to have a more satisfactory conclusion in the quarter-final of the South East Counties League Cup. Our youngsters bounced back with a convincing 5-1 victory over their Essex opponents who are members of the Competition's Second Division and had beaten Luton Town, current leaders of that Division, in the previous round.
Our youngsters opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Craig Alexander toe-poked a Stephen Parches through ball past the visiting goalkeeper The Essex side were then awarded a penalty; from which they equalised: some 15 minutes later when the referee adjudged - rather harshly that a fiercely driven shot which hit David Partridge on the arm from close range was hand ball.
With just a couple of minutes to go before the interval, Hammers regained the lead when Craig Etherington's shot was half-blocked but looped over the opposing goalkeeper into the net.
Two goals in ten minutes just after an hour's play settled the issue in our favour. Joe Keith completed a jinking run down the left-wing, during which he beat a couple of defenders, by crossing perfectly for Purches to head home whilst Etherington netted his second of the match when he took a throw-in near the half-way line from Jason Moore and moved forward.The Colchester rearguard retreated and he continued his run as the play opened up in front of him before cutting inside to the edge of the area and then drilling a fine left-foot shot into the net to the left of the goalkeeper.
With five minutes to go we put the icing on the cake when Chris Coyne advanced out of defence and chipped a long ball over the Colchester defence for second-half substitute Grant McCann to run onto before he too put another left-foot effort past Colchester's 'keeper.
In the semi-finals, due to be played early in the New Year, we have been drawn away to Tottenham Hotspur.
CHARLTON ATHLETIC : South East Counties League - Division I
Chadwell Heath
6 - 0 (Etherington, Bartley 2, Nieminen 3)
30th November 1996
NO LINE-UP AVAILABLE
For the final Saturday of the month, Charlton Athletic were the visitors for a South East Counties League match at Chadwell Heath. As they were due to play an FA Youth Cup second round tie against Brentford on the following Monday they decided to rest their more experienced players for the match with us and the final result was reflected in our superiority as we eased home by six clear goals without reply.
We opened the scoring in the eleventh minute when Craig Etherington netted and added a second seven minutes later through Danny Bartley.The highlight of the morning was undoubtedly the hat-trick netted by Mikko Nieminen (his first for the Club) which came in an eighteen minute burst either side of the interval.The Finish Youth international scored on the stroke of half-time, added a second two minutes after the break, and completed his trio in the 63rd minute. Five minutes after that Bartley got his second of the day to finalise proceedings and suitably punish the visitors for fielding such a weakened team in a one-sided affair from which the only consolations we could enjoy was a boosting of our goals tally "for" column and the satisfaction of keeping in touch with the two clubs in front of us in the standings at the current moment.
ARSENAL : South East Counties League - Division I
London Colney
0 - 0
7th December 1996
Finn
Moore
Keith
Coyne
Henry
Partridge (McFarlane)
Etherington
Purches (Boylan)
Nieminen
Bartley
Sains
The Youth-Teams' visit to London Colney on Saturday 7th December for their South East Counties League match ended with a disappointing sharing of the points with their North London rivals ArsenaL
Although both sides largely cancelled each other out, our lads had the better of the exchanges and the few opportunities that were created and a win would have gone some way to avenging our Southern Junior Floodlit Cup defeat at Highbury just three weeks previously.
Our one clear cut chance in the first-half fell to defender Jason Moore as he pressed forward in attack but his slight hesitation allowed the Gunners rearguard to close him down and the opportunity passed.
At the interval break our Republic of Ireland striker Lee Boylan came on as a substitute for Craig Etherington, for his first outing in seven weeks following injury, and got through to shoot against the goalkeeper's legs. It was a chance that in similar circumstances he usually finishes off by finding the back of the net but obviously his long absence had caused him to become a little "rusty".
Nevertheless, Team-Manager Tony Carr was somewhat philosophical in his after match comments when he said: "We must remember that in the past we often lost at places like Arsenal in these type of games, so this result shows how far our youngsters have come and their commitment. We shaded it on the play today and with a little luck could have grabbed a win but unfortunately the ball does not always run for you in these situations."
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COLCHESTER UNITED : F.A. Youth Cup (Second Round)
Layer Road
3 - 0 (Keith, Purches, Henry)
11th December 1996
Three goals in the first-half settled this FA Youth Cup tie. In the fifth minute a deep cross from right wing-half Jason Moore after he stole round the back of the home defence and found Joe Keith driving the ball into the roof of the net. We were further ahead in the 18th minute when Stephen Purches continues his run from midfield, exchanged a one-two with Lee Boylan, and then drove a right-foot shot into the net.
Ten minutes later we added a third when Anthony Henry finished off a well-rehearsed short corner routine between Boylan and Keith, which enabled the latter to send in a left-foot cross to the near post for Henry, upfield from his normal centre-back position, to head home.
Having been blasted by this three goal burst the Colchester youngsters were forced to throw caution to the wind and in their desperation push everything into attack.Their tactics proved to be the right ones as for the remaining hour's play they were the team on top and it was our lads who were penned back on defence.
It proved to be in Manager Tony Carr's opinion: "Our worst display of the season, especially after being 3-0 up, and an unacceptable performance in the circumstances. If we had not been those three goals in front we might well have lost."
As it so happened we held out despite finally conceding a goal in the 85th minute as well as the home side hitting the crossbar and having a couple of other good chances before they actually penetrated our rearguard to score.
Finn
Moore (O'Reilly)
Keith
McFarlane
Henry
Coyne
Purches
Sains (Wells)
Bartley
Boylan
Nieminen (Alexander)
SOUTHEND UNITED : South East Counties League - Division I
Chadwell Heath
1 - 1 (Henry)
14th December 1996
O'Reilly, Moore (Newton), Keith (Briggs), Coyne, McFarlane, Henry, Sains, Purches, McCann, Bartley (Fernley), Boylan
Southend United were the visitors to Chadwell Heath as the Youth-Team continued their South East Counties League programme and for a second successive League encounter had to settle for a disappointing sharing of the points.
The Essex youngsters took the lead within the opening five minutes, on a hard pitch caused by a heavy frost, when a long ball to the edge of our penalty-area resulted in some loose marking on our part and the opportunity for the visitors to shoot home from 18 yards. It was the first goal that our lads had conceded in the competition in six matches since late October. In the 15th minute we equalised when a corner on the left by Joe Keith, caused confusion in the Southend penalty-area and the ball bounced kindly for Anthony Henry who volleyed home.
As the pitch softened up, we then started to dominate and penned the opposition in their own half for long spells but were unable to break down their dogged defence. But it must also be said that our youngsters lacked creative ideas around their box to carve out openings that might have led to some clear shooting opportunities. Our best chance after the interval fell to Lee Boylan who saw liis effort cleared off the goal-line.
Although it was mostly one way traffic as Southend defended and we attacked, the visitors nearly caused an upset with a couple of breakaways the most dangerous of which was a looping effort which bounced behind off the crossbar.
IPSWICH TOWN : South East Counties League - Division I
Chadwell Heath
5 - 1 (Alexander, Boylan, Henry, Coyne, Bartley)
21st December 1996
Finn, Moore, McCann (Purches), Partridge, Henry, Coyne,Nieminen (McFarlane), Sains, Alexander (Bartley), Boylan, Etherington
On the last Saturday before Christmas the Youth-Team played hosts to Ipswich Town at Chadwell Heath. Once again we fell behind in the first-half as we gifted Ipswich a goal. Hesitation between goalkeeper Neil Finn and central-defender Chris Coyne resulted in the Suffolk side nipping in and taking advantage. Although we were in control of the game we could not make any impression for the remainder of the period.
The second-half saw a change as we began to play well. Twelve minutes after the break an inswinging corner from Steve Purches was headed home from close-range by Gary Alexander who bravely dived in to score. Concentrated pressure on the Ipswich rearguard led to them conceding another corner ten minutes later and although it was cleared, the ball was swung back into the far post where Coyne headed back across the goal for Lee Boylan to score. Within another three minutes we extended our lead when another cross, this time from the left by Mikko Nieminen to the far post, was nodded home by Anthony Henry.
Two goals in the last three minutes endorsed our superiority as Coyne curled his direct free-kick from the edge of the area around the visitors' defensive wall in the 87th minute and then in the final seconds, a break down the right by Jason Moore ended with him sending a low cross into the box which substitute Danny Bartley (on only two minutes previously) despatched first time into the net. The win put us back on top of the table on goal difference over Norwich City; although they have played two fewer games.
SOUTHEND UNITED : South East Counties League - Division I
Away
4th January 1997
MATCH POSTPONED
As in common with the rest of the fixtures that were postponed in the South East Counties League on Saturday 4th January our visit to bottom club Southend United was called off as the pitch proved unfit due to the adverse weather conditions.
NORWICH CITY : South East Counties League - Division I
Chadwell Heath
0 - 3
18th January 1997
Finn, Moore, McFarlane, Partridge, Henry (McCann), Coyne, Ferdinand, Sains (Nieminen), Alexander (Purches), Boylan, Etherington
The top-of-the-table League clash against Norwich City at Chadwell Heath saw a return to soccer action for our youngsters for the first time in four weeks. This season the Norfolk youngsters have proved to be a formidable side in the competition and were worthy , winners over the 90 minutes. City's success inflicted upon our youth-team only their first "home-and-away" defeats of the current campaign. Nevertheless, it must also be added that we were in some ways the architects of our own downfall as we gifted them two goals in the 15 minutes before half-time to set them on their way to victory.
With 30 minutes played Rio Ferdinand's loose pass on the edge of our penalty-area was easily read and intercepted before the visitors' scored in a one-on-one with our goalkeeper Neil Finn.Ten minutes later a back-pass to Finn was chased after by a Norwich forward who gratefully accepted the opportunity to put his side further ahead with a tap-in as our goalkeeper made a hash of his clearance.
In the second-half our lads improved considerably and took the game to the visitors but Norwich proved to be an extremely difficult team to break down and soaked up all our pressure. Ferdinand and half-time substitute Grant McCann, both had opportunities to reduce the arrears. With five minutes to go Norwich caught us on the break to score a third goal and wrap up the points to take themselves clear at the top with two games-in-hand of both ourselves and third-placed Chelsea,
Incidentally, it was the first defeat that our youngsters had suffered at Chadwell Heath since September 1995, a truly remarkable record and a credit to them and their Coach,Tony Carr. In the previous 23 fixtures at our Saville Road Ground they had won 16 times and drawn on the other seven occasions.
CRYSTAL PALACE : F.A. Youth Cup (Third Round)
Plough Lane
1 - 2 (Boylan)
22nd January 1997
Youth Team Coach Tony Carr's opinion on hearing that we had to travel to Plough Lane for a FA Youth Cup Third Round tie with Crystal Palace, was that the match would be a difficult one. But he could not have visualised what actually did happen when the game took place.
Little went right for us on the night and we found ourselves a goal down alter 18 minutes. Twelve minutes later, our iads scored an excellent equaliser when centre-back Chris Coyne broke out of defence and laid a perfect pass inside a defender for Lee Boylan to run onto and shoot across the Palace goalkeeper to net just inside the far post. An uncharacteristic mistake by Anthony McFarlane led to the young Eagles regaining the lead after an hour's play when he miscued his pass whilst under no direct pressure and gifted the opposition the opportunity to score. Five minuces later we were further stunned when Welsh Under-21 international David Partridge was sent off following a second bookable offence.The irony of the incident was even more poignant as David's tackle in winning the ball had been perfectly timed and executed but his opponent stumbled over as his momentum carried him forward.The handicap of being reduced to ten men resulted in us being unable to push bodies upfieid to once again rectify the deficit but we still had our fair share of the play,
Two further incidents were to prove it was not to be our night when Rio Ferdinand's effort, after he got through in a one-on-one situation, clipped the goalkeeper's heel and rolled agonisingly along the goal-line before going the wrong side of the upright. Then in the last minute, Boylan crashed his shot against the Palace post to once more frustrate our attempts to earn a replay.
Finn
Moore
Partridge
Coyne
Henry (Bowen)
McFarlane (Nieminen)
Purches
Ferdinand
Boylan
Sains
Etherington
LEYTON ORIENT : South East Counties League - Division I
Away game played at Chawell Heath
3 - 0 (Boylan (2 pen), Etherington)
25th January 1997
Finn, Miller, McCann, Wells, Henry, Coyne (Goodwin), Etherington (Briggs), Nieminen, Fernley, Boylan (Alexander), Purches
Our South East Counties League team have experienced changing fortunes in their last three fixtures which have resulted in two comfortable wins and a disappointing defeat.
On Saturday 25th January they were due to play Leyton Orient in an away fixture pitch available they suggested that che game take place at Chadwell Heath. Despite fielding some of the younger members of our Youth squad we proved far too strong for the visitors and took the lead in the eighth minute when Lee Boylan converted a penalty after being fouled.Two minutes into the second-half Boylan was again successful in firing home another spot-kick following a handling incident which everybody failed to see apart from the alert referee.Three minutes later, Craig Etherington wrapped things up when he finished off a goalmouth scramble as he got the final touch to a loose ball we might have had an even greater margin of victory as Danny Fernley hit a post and we created and missed several other good chances.
GILLINGHAM : South East Counties League - Division I
Away
2 - 3 (Fernley, Boylan)
1st February 1997
Finn, Moore, McCann, Wells, Henry, Coyne (Bartley), Purches, Etherington, Fernley (Nieminen), Boylan ,Sains (Goodwin)
Seven days later we travelled to Gillingham and punished some defensive frailty and errors on the Kent club's part when we scored two quick goals through Danny Fernley and Boylan in the 31st and 32nd minutes. Gillingham pulled one back five minutes before the break and then drew level ten minutes into the second-half when they punished an untypical but nevertheless glaring error by Anthony Henry. Two minutes later, they once again scored as Lee Goodwin lost his footing as he attempted a clearance, leaving an opponent a clear run on goal. It was destined not to be our day as the woodwork intervened on four separate occasions to deny us scoring at least once more. As League leaders Norwich City drew on the same day a victory on our part would have enabled us to once more top the table but unfortunately it was not to be for, as Tony Carr said: "What could go wrong for us, did."
CAMBRIDGE UNITED : South East Counties League - Division I
Chadwell Heath
8 - 1 (Boylan 2, Purches, Bartley, McCann, Goodwin, Alexander 2)
8th February 1997
O'Reilly, Newton, Moore (McFarlane), Wells, Henry (Bowen), Goodwin, Purches, Briggs, Bartley, Boylan (Alexander), McCann
A week later, on the second Saturday of February, Cambridge United were the visitors to Chadwell Heath and were completely outplayed as we once again fielded some of our younger prospects who took the opportunity to go on a goal spree.
Although Lee Boylan gave us an eighth minute lead, Cambridge came back to draw level within a couple of minutes but almost immediately Stephen Purches (13th minute) restored our advantage. Danny Bartley three minutes later, put us further ahead before Grant McCann added a fourth in the 21st minute with his second goal of the season. Boylan (32nd minute) made it 5-1 at the interval before Lee Goodwin added a sixth in the 68th min. Two goals from second-half substitute Gery Alexander, on for Boylan, in the 73rd and 76th minutes completed the rout as the visitors were completely outclassed in our biggest win of the season and completed a League double over the opposition. The win kept us in second place in the table two points behind Norwich City who also won as did Chelsea in third spot on the same number of points as ourselves.
CHELSEA : South East Counties League - Division I
Away
1 - 2 (Boylan)
15th February 1997
O'Reilly
McFarlane
Moore (Newton)
Coyne
Goodwin
Henry
Purches
Etherington
McCann
Boylan
Alexander (Bowen)
The youth-team's return journey from their away visit to play Chelsea was overshadowed by the knowledge that they were returning home empty handed when they should have had at least gained one point, if not two.
Despite being without banned Welsh Under -21 centre-back David Partridge as well as regulars Neil Finn, Joe Keith and Chris Sains, our youngsters played some attractive football in the opening 45 minutes.The first-half remained goalless inspite of us having two good chances to take the lead.
Earlier in the season we had beaten Chelsea by a comfortable 4-0 margin at Chadwell Heath but in the intervening months their fortunes have improved to such an extent that prior to the kick-off they were in third place in the table, just behind us, with only goal-difference separating us as we both had the same number of points.
After the interval we could still have gone in front as Gary Alexander was denied a ninth goal of the campaign by the Blues goalkeeper. To add insult to injury we then conceded two poor goals to give ourselves an uphill task which was made even more difficult as farther opportunities went astray or were missed,
With seven minutes left, Lee Boylan got a consolation goal to bring us back into contention but inspite of some other chances to snatch a point we could not capitalise by hitting the target.
Their win meant that Chelsea leapfrogged over us into second place and with Norwich City once more winning; this time away at Cambridge United; to keep in top spot we are now four points off the pace as well as the Norfolk youngsters having two games in hand over Chelsea and ourselves.
FULHAM : South East Counties League - Division I
Chadwell Heath
6 - 1 (Alexander 4, Goodwin, McCann)
22nd February 1997
NO LINE-UP AVAILABLE
With injuries and Chris Sains on loan at Southend United, YouthTeam Manager Tony Carr was forced to field three schoolboys in his XI for the visit of Fulham to Chadwell Heath. Despite the inexperienced look of the side our lads showed why the young Cottagers have the worst defensive record in the League and fully avenged the shock defeat inflicted by them last October when playing away. We were two goals up at the interval through Gary Alexander (24 mins.) and Lee Goodwin who scored a minute before the break. Fulham did have a couple of chances to score but our defence remained firm to deny them the opportunity to do so.
In a sparkling individualistic performance in the second-half Alexander added another three goals to his tally when he netted in the 52nd, 65th and 72nd minutes to take his season's haul to twelve.The most spectacular goal of our final clutch of six was undoubtably the last which was scored by Grant McCann who chipped the visiting goalkeeper from outside the penalty area to seal a comfortable victory and boost our goals for column on a day when leaders Norwich City lost at home to second-place Chelsea. Youngster Eddie Grey on our left-wing had a notable debut to the delight of our Youth Squad coaches.
WATFORD : South East Counties League - Division I
Away
5 - 3
1st March 1997
NO LINE-UP AVAILABLE
An extremely physical approach from the Watford youngsters when we visited them in our League game on the opening Saturday of March meant that the referee was constantly halting proceedings as he whistled up for the numerous free-kicks that their style of play conceded.
Fortunately the attitude they adopted from the opening minute when they committed their first foul on our central defender Chris Coyne did not upset our lads unduly. Responding positively we took the lead in the 13th minute when Craig Etherington scored and four minutes before half-time added a second when Lee Goodwin netted for the second week running making his total for the season up to four.
Just after the interval Watford scored twice in quick succession to draw level but we immediately responded to go back in front when Stephen Purches broke away and crossed into the area and the home defence conceded an own goal whilst under pressure in the 53rd minute. Etherington dien scored the goal of the game six minutes later to restore our two goal advantage as he ran onto a loose ball following die opposing goalkeeper's punched clearance and hit a well taken volley from the edge of the penalty area.
Once again Watford reduced their arrears when they were allowed to score after one of their forwards punched the bali out of our goalkeeper Neil Finn's grasp in a goalmouth incident before knocking home the loose ball.To the amazement of all watching none of the match officials saw the infringement and thus let the goal stand.
Justice, however, was finally seen to be done with eleven minutes to go when a deep cross from the opposite wing was met at the far post by right wing full-back Jason Moore who forced home the ball for his second goal of the campaign to give us a thoroughly deserved 5-3 victory and thus complete a third win "double" of the season.
The win was all the more important from our viewpoint as the strength of the Watford side has been well illustrated this season, especially in cup tie football, as last month they drew 1 -1 at Old Trafford against Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup
PORTSMOUTH : South East Counties League - Division I
Chadwell Heath
2 - 0 (Purches, Byrne)
8th March 1997
Finn, Moore, Partridge (Boylan), Henry, Coyne, Goodwin, Etherington, Byrne, Bartley (Purches) ,Alexander (Fernley) ,McCann
The visit of Portsmouth to Chadwell Heath provided our youngsters with their fourth League "double" of the season. It was also the third time this campaign they had defeated the Pompey youngsters as they were also triumphant in the Southern Junior Floodlit Cup last September.
Despite the final outcome of the match going our way. the visitors were nevertheless still very much in contention with two-thirds of the game played. A goalless first-half meant the result was in doubt before the interval but a more positive approach saw us raise the pace of the play and in the 67th minute Jason Moore made a good run down our right- flank before centring for Stephen Purches, who had just come on as a substitute a few minutes before, to score. At the same time we lost striker Gary Alexander, who damaged ankle ligaments which forced him to retire. Gary has been missing from our team for the last month as he receives treatment for his injury.
With seven minutes to go, debutant Shaun Byrne sealed our victory as he showed good anticipation in following up and scoring from a Lee Boylan shot which rebounded back off the Pompey goalkeeper.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR : South East Counties League - Division I
Chadwell Heath
3 - 1 (Boylan, Bartley, Henry)
15th March 1997
Finn, Moore (Miller), Purches, Goodwin (Henry), Partridge, Coyne (Wells), Etherington, McFarlane, Bartley, Boylan, McCann
Seven days later Tottenham Hotspur's youngsters were the visitors to Chadwell Heath for our penultimate home League fixture of the season. The match was a dress rehearsal for our forthcoming League Cup semi-final tie which will take place away on Tuesday 15th April.
Spurs took the lead in the first-half and might well have been further ahead before Danny Bartley had our best chance of the opening period, just before the interval, when he struck his shot against the opposing 'keeper instead of equalising.
Midway through the second period, Lee Boylan finally levelled the scores despite appeals from Spurs for off-side. Five minutes later, a good move down the left ended with Grant McCann's cross to the back-post being headed home by Bartley as just reward for his persistence. Second-half substitute Anthony Henry rounded things off ten minutes from time when he too headed home from a Stephen Purches corner to secure a 3 - I final scoreline.
MILLWALL : South East Counties League - Division I
Away
1 - 1 (Etherington)
22nd March 1997
Finn, Moore, McCann, Partridge, Henry, Coyne, Etherington, McFarlane (Miller), Bartley (Newton), Boylan (Fernley) ,Purches
After four wins on the bounce we travelled to South London a week later for an encounter with a young Millwall side. Having beaten them already this season, back in November by 3 - 0, and with ourselves fielding a strong team on this occasion, there was good reason to expect that we would extend our winning run. After dominating the early exchanges we took a deserved lead in the 27th minute when once again, as in the previous match, Grant McCann's left-wing cross to the back-post led to us scoring.This time it was Craig Etherington who netted as he rifled home a right-foot shot.
Failure to build on our superiority from then on resulted in Millwall continuing to hold on and be in with a chance of getting back on level terms which they duly did when just before the break Anthony Henry, in attempting to dribble out of his own penalty-area, lost possession and the Young Lions accepted a gift equaliser to punish us for our failure to press home our advantage. After this we rarely looked like regaining the lead as the home side grew in stature to earn a share of the spoils.
SOUTHEND UNITED : South East Counties League - Division I
Away
0 - 0
29th March 1997
O'Reilly, Newton, Miller, Wells, McFarlane, Coyne ,Purches, Briggs, Fenley, McCann, Etherington (Bowen)
The last three fixtures in the South East Counties League have brought a mixed bag of results for our Youth Team as their season draws to a conclusion. The visit to Southend United proved to be somewhat of a lottery for both teams as the pitch comprised a surface that was made up mostly of sand and stones. It was not possible for them to play their normal style of football as our youngsters were forced to worry about the consequences of how seriously they might injure themselves as well as the bounce of the ball on the uneven and harsh top.
Unfortunately our casualty list was extended when Craig Etherington sustained a damaged ankle after an hour's play and was forced off with Justin Bowen substituting.The injury resulted in Craig missing the following few matches and we also missed out on taking both points against Southend to sustain our challenge at the top of the table.
CHARLTON ATHLETIC : South East Counties League - Division I
Away
2 - 0 (Boylan [pen], Henry)
5th April 1997
O'Reilly, Newton, Keith, Wells, Partridge, Coyne, Purches, Byrne, Henry ,Boylan, McCann
A week later our lads were again on their travels, this time south of the Thames for a meeting with Charlton Athletic who they had beaten earlier in the season in the League and the first round of the League Cup.
Although we continued to play a number of our younger players we were pleased to welcome back after his long absence through illness full-back Joe Keith who was a regular member of last season's Championship winning side. We keep up our 100% record against the South London youngsters with a two goals to nil win. Five minutes before half-time we took the lead when Lee Boylan added to his total as our leading goalscorer as he netted his fourteenth League goal of the season from the penalty spot. It was fitting that the young Irishman should score as it was he who had originally been fouled in earning the spot kick by creating problems in the home defence.
Our continuing list of injuries; which included strikers Carl Alexander and Danny Bartley: had forced Team Manager, Tony Carr to draft Anthony Henry into a forward striker's role for the match and it was fitting that the youngster was rewarded for his endeavours when he scored the second of our goals in the 54th minute.Taking a well delivered through-ball from Grant McCann our No.9 accurately lobbed the home goalkeeper to press home our advantage and secure a good win.
Although the victory put us back at the top of the standings Norwich City remain favourites for the Title as they have games in hand on ourselves as do the other contenders Chelsea in third place.
ARSENAL : South East Counties League - Division I
Chadwell Heath
1 - 2 (McFarlane)
12th April 1997
O'Reilly, Moore (Wells), Keith, Partridge, Henry (Newton), Coyne, Purches, McFarlane, Bartley (Alexander), Boylan, McCann
The Championship pretensions of all three sides were more clearly sorted out as the young "Canaries" recorded a home victory over Charlton Athletic by 2-1 whilst both ourselves and the young "Blues" lost by the same score, also in home fixtures.
Both sides provided excellent entertainment in a good game and a fairer outcome would have been a draw but some slack marking and defensive errors resulted in our gifting the young "Gunners" two goals.The North Londoners had a lot of pace in their side as was proved by the manner in which they scored their goals as they broke away out of defence and counter attacked. A goal down at the interval we continued to take the game to Arsenal, who defensively gave little away, but were rewarded in the 58th minute when Anthony McFarlane equalised with a long shot from the edge of the area.Just as it seemed we were back in contention of at least a share of the points the visitors took advantage of some slack marking and restored their lead within five minutes of them conceding it.
Although losing the match our youngsters gave a better account of themselves than in the drawn game against the same opponents away in December - but they were punished severely for the couple of errors which led to the visitors' goals.
Last weekend's sequence of results meant that Norwich City once more leaped to the head of the table and seem more likely to become the new Champions as they have four games to play as well as being two points in front of us in second place who have just one away fixture remaining. Chelsea in third place are one point behind ourselves with two games to play, so they may still deny us the runners-up spot.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR : South East Counties League Cup (Semi-Final)
Having beaten Tottenham Hotspur just a month previously in the League at Chadwell Heath; as well as having drawn with them in the same competition away last November; we naturally had high expectations for our visit to White Hart Lane on the evening of Tuesday 15th April for our South East Counties League Cup semi-final tie. We were able to field probably our strongest side for many weeks as a number of our regulars returned from injury for the game.
The first-half remained goalless although we had marginally the better of the exchanges and both Lee Boylan and Danny Bartley might have given us an advantage at the break but were denied by a determined Spurs defence.
Unfortunately the second period of the game proved to be a different story as the Tottenham midfield began to dominate and finally confirmed their superiority when they unhinged our resistance to score twice as Craig Etherington and Stephen Purches (who finally had to be substituted in the 74th minute) struggled with injuries.
For our Youth Squad and their Manager Tony Carr it was something of an anticlimactic end to their cup endeavours this season, but for the youngsters from North London the victory meant a place in the two-leg final against Norwich City who had beaten Watford by a similar margin in the other semi at Carrow Road a month previously.
White Hart Lane
0 - 2
15th April 1997
O'Reilly
Moore
Keith
Coyne
Etherington
Partridge (Sains)
Purches (Alexander)
McFarlane
Boylan
Bartley
McCann (Miller)
QUEENS PARK RANGERS : South East Counties League - Division I
Away
1 - 3 (Byrne)
19th April 1997
NO LINE-UP AVAILABLE
The current season ended on a disappointing note for youth-team Manager Tony Carr and his young protegees when they suffered a second successive reverse in their final South East Counties League fixture away against Queens Park Rangers. Although dominating proceedings for a good deal of the first-half, our youngsters could not press home their advantage and turn it into goals.The result was that the West Londoners grew in confidence and a three-goal burst in the opening I 5 minutes of the second-half, due to some slack defending on our part, was enough to put the home side in a commanding position. Although we once again began to dominate after this spell, the damage had been done and our only consolation was a Sean Byrne goal scored in the 70th minute direct from a corner.
Our lads can take satisfaction from finishing in third place (behind Norwich City as Champions and runners-up Chelsea) in defence of the title they won last May knowing that this season has seen a change in a good deal of their personnel, but tempered with the knowledge that a few less defensive slip-ups might well have seen them pushing somewhat harder to regain the Championship.
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