Non-League and Academy football writer

Two Premier Division sides of the Spartan South Midlands Football League faced each other in an FA Cup extra preliminary round tie, on Saturday afternoon at Chalk Lane, in Cockfosters, and Kings Langley. For the second season in a row, both of these sides would meet one another in the extra preliminary round stage of the FA Cup. Last season Kings Langley would progress in to the next stage of this prestigious competition, in a replay, after the first game had finished in a draw at Chalk Lane. Gavin Kelsey’s Cockfosters side have won one and drawn one, from their opening two league matches of this season. Kings Langley have won one and lost one, from their opening two league matches of the season. For the second season running a replay will be required, with this match finishing 2-2.

Kings Langley would start this match well. During the early stages of the game, and after George Ironton had hit a powerful first time effort over the Cockfosters goal, after getting to Luke Beckwith’s lay off on the edge of the box, the away side would take an early lead. It was George Ironton with the opening goal of this contest in the third minute, and in similar fashion to his effort a minute or so earlier, the Kings Langley player would get to a lay off from a teammate on the edge of the home side’s box. Ironton would then hit a powerful and quickly taken effort on the bounce, which found the left-hand side of the goal, with the ball going beyond Connor Sansom at pace, 0-1.

Cockfosters had started the opening minutes of this game relatively slowly, by their high standards. They hadn’t settled on the ball just yet. However, conceding that goal seemed to wake them up. The home side would soon find themselves level in the tie. After Junior Moses had received a pass out on the left flank and in the final third, the Cockfosters left-back would continue forward with the ball for a bit, before delivering a low cross in to the centre of the Kings Langley penalty area. Joseph Shenouda would meet the ball inside the box, before the ball came to Kendall Gyamfi, who was in a bit of space and who would finish powerfully in to the roof of the goal from close range, 1-1.

After that levelling goal for Cockfosters both sides would battle for possession of the ball, as they looked to create further goalscoring chances. The next real chance of the match was the one in which lead to Cockfosters taking the lead, not long after the 30 minute mark. Kendall Gyamfi would play a one-two pass with George Hughes, on the edge of the Kings Langley box, before then receiving the ball on the right-hand side of the penalty area. The Cockfosters forward would play the ball across the face of Matt Nolan’s goal, with the alert Junior Moses getting to the ball a couple of yards out from goal. Although he was under pressure from defenders, he would show some good skill with the ball and composure, to work the space needed, before then finishing low in to the goal, 2-1.

Just before half-time Kings Langley’s centre-forward Kieran Turner would curl an effort on Sansom’s goal, from the edge of his penalty area, which was comfortably gathered by the Cockfosters goalkeeper. Kings Langley definitely improved in their play during the early stages of the second half. They would draw level, still early on in the second half, through their number 10 – Louie Collier. The Kings Langley player would receive Luke Beckwith’s low cross, with pace, from the right-hand side of the pitch, to the left-hand side of the home team’s box. Collier would then control the ball before finishing powerfully and low in to the bottom right-hand corner of Sansom’s goal, 2-2.

Another good chance was created by Kings Langley a little while after having made it 2-2. With Henry Dudley getting to a looped pass in behind of the home side’s defence, but on the stretch, and from close range inside of the penalty area, his low effort on goal was gathered by Sansom. As we approached the latter stages of this highly competitive cup tie, both sides were now really going for the win. After Cockfosters substitute Luca Gordon had an effort blocked by a defender on the edge of the Kings Langley box, the ball would deflect in to the path of George Hughes on the left-hand side of the box. He would shift the ball on to his right foot, but under pressure his resulting powerful effort would go wide, across Nolan’s goal.

A good low effort on the Kings Langley goal (from 20 yards out) from Luca Gordon, was well parried by Nolan, before one last chance came the way of the home side, in the final minutes of second half stoppage time. As defender Adam Hastings nodded an effort over the Kings Langley goal, after meeting Matt Thomson’s free-kick delivery (from 25 yards out) in to the penalty area. This cup tie will now be replayed in the very near future, after a very competitive 2-2 draw, earlier today. I thought that Cockfosters were the more creative of the two sides on the day. However, both sides had their moments in this game, with both sides also having to defend well on occasions.

For the visiting side, I was impressed with the performances of Luke Beckwith, Scott Bridges, and Louie Collier. For Cockfosters, I thought that Junior Moses, Kendall Gyamfi, and Matt Thomson were some of their most influential players on the day. However, starting the game at left-back and finishing the game at right-back, Junior Moses was my player of the match today. With good balance to his game, the youngster made many good decisions, both with and without the ball. He also showed some excellent ball control and ability with the ball, going forward with it really well. Junior Moses was involved in the buildup play for the first Cockfosters goal of the game, before then scoring their second goal of the afternoon. A player with a very promising future in the game, Junior Moses was also superb on the occasion that I saw him play for the reserves last season.