By
David Gold
Oakhill lost 3-0 to Sporting JLGE in the Tony Cohen Memorial Cup quarter final as Alex Woolf struck twice and Jamie Bowden got the third goal for the visitors.
It was a more even game than the scoreline suggested according to Sporting assistant-manager Ryan Sidle.
“We coped with the conditions better. They were the better side in the first half but in the second period I can’t remember having to defend much, we penned them into their half.
Some of it was because they made mistakes in the mud. We had them on the back-foot and managed to control the game better.”
The visitors struggled to break down Oakhill for much of the first half in an evenly fought encounter. Stand-in player-manager Dan Cohen had the best of the chances that came Oakhill’s way early on as he fired across the goalkeeper, hitting the post.
Mark Woolf had a couple of opportunities that he failed to capitalise upon in muddy conditions.
Sporting scored with their first real opportunity Towards the end of the half as Alex Woolf’s deflected half volley found the bottom corner.
The game continued to ebb and flow in the second period with Oakhill creating chances but failing to take them, and they were duly punished towards the end of the half when Bowden headed home a cross.
Oakhill pressed forward and committed men to attack in a desperate attempt to salvage something from the game, but found themselves undone by a swift counter attack as Woolf jinked past a defender in the area and saw his shot parried, but he capitalised on the rebound to round the keeper and slot home.
Cohen admitted that the better team had won and that Sporting’s finishing had been better on the day.
“They just wanted the game more than us, that was evident in the manner they approached it and the way they put in tackles. We had the lion’s share of the chances but they put them away better.”