Neasden A Claim League & Cup Double
Peter Morrison Cup Final
Hendon A 1 North West Neasden A 2
Sunday, 4 May, 2008
However, that doesn’t begin to tell half the story as Jamie Cole’s men had to dig deep, not only coming from a goal down, but also having to do it playing with ten men for over an hour, following the 29th minute dismissal of midfielder Danny Cole, manager Jamie’s younger brother.
The red card, handed out by League Championship referee Jarnail Singh for a foul on Hendon’s Greg Corin seemed notably harsh, and also seemed as if it would end any hopes Neasden had of winning the cup.
They were already a goal down through Corin’s 16th minute strike – a low pinging effort after Neasden had failed to close their lines from a long throw-in, and it had been Jonathan Kestenbaum’s side who had started the much brighter of the sides, and although they had the one-man advantage, they had looked the better and more composed side.
Even prior to them taking the lead, they had threatened. With just a matter of minutes on the clock, Saul Conway, playing the lone striker role up front found himself bearing down on goal only to be bravely thwarted by Andy Emden in the Neasden goal – who was standing in for regular goalkeeper David Fox who was ruled out through a stomach injury.
Corin had also just failed to get onto the end of Paul Bentley’s drilled-in cross as the Hammers looked to raise the tempo early on. They took the lead on the quarter-hour mark, and when Cole received his marching orders, the game almost seemed up for them.
However, almost fuelled by what they perceived at the injustice of the decision, they came out fired up for the second half, almost rejuvenated and began to realise a fantastic second half.
Lee Cash had a sighter on goal just minutes after the restart though fired his effort wide, though as they began to get a foothold in proceedings, they began to look more and more threatning. They may have had to wait another 20 minutes for their next real chance and but for a superb save from Hendon goalkeeper Danny Berliner, would have found themselves on level terms though Stock saw his shot blocked.
The pressure though was mounting and with 71 minutes on the clock, Cash headed them level, an agile effort from a right-wing cross beating Berliner at his near post.
Giving them a major boost, the numerical disadvantage was lost on them and although Hendon brought on fresh legs, they couldn’t really create a noteworthy chance.
As the clock ticked down, indeed with just one minute left, Neasden launched an attack down the left flank. Although they may have been slightly fortuitous with the ricochet of the ball that saw it fall at the feet of Stock, there was nothing lucky about the finish as the ball was struck low across Berliner and into the far post.
Wild scenes of celebrations followed the goal, though that was nothing compared to the scenes minutes later when the full time whistle blew, as Neasden, against all the odds were left to celebrate a marvellous double.
Hendon A:
Danny Berliner 8, Ben Konn 6, Paul Bentley 7, Alex Rosenthal 7, Tal Nevies 6, Greg Corin 7, Ari Last 6, Josh Lipman 7, Josh Bentley 6 (Benjy Wreschner 79, 5), Motti Korman 6, Saul Conway 7 (Avidan Last 65, 6)
Neasden A:
Andy Emden 7, Adam Levene 7 (Adam Stolerman 64, 7), Jon Ellis 9, Scott Shindler 8, Jake Gottlieb 7, Danny Cole 6, Danny Daggers 7, Matt Sofier 7, Josh Rosenfeld 7 (Lee Platt 77, 7), Lee Cash 8, Ryan Sher 7 (Matt Stock 46, 8)
Mensch-of-the-Match:
Jon Ellis
