Goals from Sam Lipton and Ben Bellman guided Borussia Barnet into the semis in their first season following a 2-0 win over Whitefield Wanderers in the lunchtime kick-off at the Hive.
January 28, 2020 11:16
PETER MORRISON TROPHY QUARTER-FINAL
BORUSSIA BARNET 2 WHITEFIELD WANDERERS 0
More than 100 spectators arrived at the Hive in Edgware to watch MGBSFL Borussia lock horns with Whitefield from the Manchester Accountants League.
Borussia started on the front foot and forged ahead after 15 minutes when a corner from Nathan Rosenthal led to a scramble that fell beautifully for Sam Lipton, captain fantastic, to slam the ball into the roof of the net from ten yards.
The hosts continued to dominate for the remainder of the first half, and their pressure was eventually rewarded with a stunning strike - Ben Bellman received the ball just inside the Whitefield half. The left-back drove into the box before unleashing a powerful strike that caught the keeper out near post to make it 2-0.
Rosenthal was the star performer of the first half and game-management was key for a buoyant Borussia team who were now just 45 minutes away securing a place in the last four.
Whitefield grew into the game without creating any major chances. They failed to seriously test the home goalkeeper, who was well protected by a resilient defence in a tough-tackling contest.
The visitors showed signs of frustration, which resulted in a number of yellow cards tallying up, with Reece Miller getting his marching order from referee Richard Jaye for kicking out - his second bookable offence.
The second half had few chances but a controlling and overall dominant performance sent the Londoners through.
Proud Borussia boss Brad Papier told JC Sport: "It was an absolutely tremendous and dominant performance from start to finish as shown by zero shots for the lads from up north.
"We dominated midfield and defence and although we didn’t create much second half, we were always comfortable and frustrations started pouring out from Whitefield."
Borussia go into the hat alongside Manchester Maccabi 1st, HMH and Hertswood Vale for the semi-finals.
Papier went on to say: "We’re delighted to be in the final four. We feel we can beat anyone on our day, so we’re all eager to see who the draw gives us. Although another home tie versus a Manchester team might bankrupt the club!"
He added: "I want to give a special mention to all my players because after the game as usual Sam and I discussed man of the match and we genuinely couldn’t choose. Everyone was 8/10 minimum and we ended up not giving it to anyone as it wasn’t fair on others."
Whitefield manager Jonny Rose told JC Sport: "The best team won on the day. We didn’t quite have the quality where it counted.
"The boys worked really hard and our second-half performance was really good. We huffed and puffed but were just a bit too shot-shy.”
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