EXCEL LEAGUE UNDER 12 CUP FINAL
North West London Jets 3 HISHU 1
North West London Jets came from behind to beat HISHU 3-1 in the Excel under 12's League Cup final.
HISHU got the cup final underway and were immediately looking to open the scoring. However, the Jets were prepared to soak up pressure and kept HISHU chances to a minimum with fantastic defensive displays.
HISHU tried a variety of approaches which involved long balls and short intricate passes but the five-man midfield broke the HISHU attacks down and looked to counter-attack with balls into the lone striker.
HISHU then made a tactical switch, moving James Becker from defence to his usual role of striker and this move proved a masterstroke as an attacking run from Becker exposed a gap in between the Jets centre backs, enabling him to latch onto a through ball and slot the game’s opener past the NWLJ goalkeeper.
The Jets responded almost immediately with Jonathan Korn causing HISHU havoc down the right of midfield with some fantastic runs and passes into the striker. It was thanks to Korn that NWLJ levelled before the break as he broke down the right with the ball, passed it to David Amor who quickly laid the ball into the path of Matti Karp to slot the ball into the back of the HISHU net.
The second half saw a more dominant performance from NWLJ in which they created numerous chances. The pressure eventually told with Joel Leighton cutting in from the right wing to drive the ball into the bottom corner of the net and put the Jets into the lead.
HISHU tried to respond but NWLJ stood strong and continued to launch effective counter-attacks with Akiva Restan spearheading the Jets third goal with a driven pass into the HISHU penalty area for Korn to dummy and Amor to slot the ball home.
HISHU had a great opportunity to get back into the game but Josh Weiler was thwarted by a fantastic save from Jets goalkeeper Eli Meyer who was voted man of the match after some crucial saves throughout the game.
As the referee drew the cup final to a close the NWLJ substitutes ran onto the pitch to celebrate a superb team performance and a great way to round off a successful first season at 11-a-side.
Report written by Yoni Weichselbaum