FA youth cup - Arsenal vs Watford 18/01/00

FA Youth Cup, 4th round

Tue 18th January 2000

Arsenal 3 (1) Watford 1 (1)

Result : Arsenal               (1) 3  Watford                  (1) 1
Scorers: Halls 31, Kuffour 56,90      Forde 24

Arsenal: Graham Stack; Moritz Volz, Ryan Garry, John Halls, Niccolo Galli;
         Greg Oates, David Noble, Jermaine Pennant, Jerome Thomas;
         Jeremie Aliadiere, Joe Kuffour
         Subs: Jay Bothroyd (Aliadiere 53), Ben Chorley (Garry 75),
               Jermaine Brown (Thomas 88), Declan Field, Craig Holloway
         Booked: Halls

Watford: Richard Lee, Will Deamer, Lloyd Doyley, Jerel Ifil, Thomas Neill,
         Daniel Braithwaite, Sam Swonnell, Elliot Godfrey, Elis Kodra,
         Fabian Forde, Gary Fisken
         Subs: Steve Sinclair (Kodra), Matthew Hopton (Deamer)
                  
Att: 500?
Ref: D G Down (Shefford, Beds)

An entertaining youth cup game at Highbury last night, where an Arsenal u18 team came from a goal down to deservedly win the 4th round tie, though it took an injury time goal to finally see off Watford's challenge.

It was a fairly young team which started for Arsenal, 6 of them eligible for the U17s, though with an experienced (in youth terms) spine - keeper Stack, centre half Hall, midfielders Oates & Noble, and striker Kuffour. It took a while for the home team to settle, and Watford probably had marginally the better of the opening 10 minutes or so. Gradually Arsenal assumed control though, and had the first clear cut chance when Pennant knocked a pass down the line for Volz, making an overlapping run down the right. He was clear and in enough space to cut in to the area where he went round one defender to leave himself with what seemed a chance for a shot on his left foot. His final effort though was half way between a shot and a pass and rolled tamely a couple of feet past the far post.

Pennant then went on a terrific run of his own, cutting in from the halfway line on a diagonal run which took him past 3 or 4 players right into the middle of the area. At one point the ball almost got away from him, but the Watford defence was backing away and he ended up in space about 10 yards out, but with only the keeper to beat he blasted a left foot shot over the bar.

It was thus somewhat against the run of play that Watford took the lead midway through the half. The Arsenal defence was caught square by a long ball forward which found the no 9 Forde running clear, and he finished well, sliding the ball past Stack as the keeper rushed out.

Arsenal came back well though, and got a deserved equaliser a few minutes later. Thomas I think won a corner on the right, and Noble's kick landed perfectly on the unmarked Halls' head, and from about 8 yards out in the centre of goal he could hardly miss.

Noble then nearly put Arsenal in front before half time when he curled in a free kick from a few yards outside the area on the left. It was heading just inside the far post but the keeper flew to his left to make a great save, palming it round the post.

At the other end the only other real threat I can recall came when Halls misjudged the bounce of a long ball forward and Forde nearly nipped in again, but Stack came out bravely to block and managed to grab the loose ball at the 2nd attempt, despite being hurt in the process. He was able to continue after treatment.

Early in the 2nd half Aliadiere, who hadn't made much on an impression, limped off to be replaced by Bothroyd, and Arsenal proceeded to have a 15 minute purple patch where they scored once and could have had 2 or 3 more.

First another Noble corner was headed goalwards, I think by Galli this time, but with the keeper beaten it was headed off the line by a defender. Soon afterwards Bothroyd sent over a cross from the left which was just too high for Kuffour in the middle, then Pennant got away down the right but his cross too just failed to find a red shirt in the middle.

Finally Arsenal did get the goal their efforts deserved, at the end of a series of close calls. I think following something of a goalmouth scramble a shot came in from the left by Bothroyd (?) which beat the keeper but was stopped in front of the far post by a defender. However he hit his clearance straight at Kuffour, a combination of keeper and defender managed to scramble the ball away again, Bothroyd picked it up just outside the area. He got round a defender to the byline on the left and chipped back a cross which found Kuffour in the middle near the penalty spot. The ball was just behind him but he brought it down well and swivelled to hit a superb left foot shot into the top right corner of the net.

The young Gunners then dominated the next 15-20 minutes, with Pennant getting away several times down the right, and Noble prompting well from midfield, but without much end result. There were a couple more close calls though I'm struggling to remember any more specific incident.

Gradually though Watford began to realise they were still in the match, and started pushing forward and throwing more long balls into the area, which made the last 10-15 minutes a bit nervous as they looked as though they might find an equaliser. They very nearly did when after a bit of a scramble the ball reached a Watford player in space in the area about 10 yards out. He looked certain to score but Stack made a fantastic reaction save, beating the ball aside.

Things steadied a bit when the young left back Garry, who was starting to look a bit tired, was replaced by Ben Chorley who went into the middle of defence, Halls moving forward into midfield while Oates went to left back. Another substitution just before the 90 mins were up, Brown coming on for Thomas, ultimately resulted in the decisive 3rd goal. With Watford pushing forward they were leaving space at the back and when a clearance reached Brown just inside the Watford half, the defence was stretched and Brown pushed a pass forward to find Kuffour making a run from right to left. He was still fairly closely marked though, so it was a superb finish when he struck a left foot shot from the edge of the area past the keeper and just inside the near post.

For me the undoubted man of the match was David Noble who I think is potentially a real star in the making. Fairly big and strong with a sweet right foot (but prepared to use his left), he's also got good vision and will put his foot in if necessary. Pennant also looked a class above, and for a period in the 2nd half was beating his man at will, though there were other periods in the match when he didn't see much of the ball. The others who really impressed were Galli, the centre half who missed nothing in the air and used the ball well when it was on the ground, and Volz the right back who looks a very strong confident player, good on the ball too. Halls again looked quite a good player, though he did make a couple of misjudgements at the back. Bothroyd had a very good 15-20 minutes when he first came on but then lapsed into being a bit casual and lackadaisical again, while Kuffour again worked hard making plenty of good runs, and produced a couple of lovely finishes.

Derek

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