Wilson’s 1st XI 1 VS 0 Sutton (Sutton Cup Final) Wilson’s 1st XI 2 VS 1 Harris Crystal Palace Kinetic (London Cup Semi Final)
We are very proud of our 1st XI football team’s success in the recent Sutton Cup and their onward progress in the London Cup. A particularly successful year for Wilson’s Sport continues! We hope you enjoy reading about the matches from the viewpoint of our Captain, Matt, in Year 13.
The 1st XI began their first fixture of the week on a miserable Thursday afternoon, playing against Sutton Grammar's 'Golden Generation' in the Sutton Cup final at Northey Avenue. As we had our London Cup semi-final the next day, the burden fell upon Mr Wells to expertly manage the lineup to keep everyone in peak condition to play both fixtures.
The Sutton Cup final began with a flash, with Sutton quickly trying to assert their dominance through set piece opportunities in the first few minutes of the game, but this was quickly neutralized by Arjun (Year 12) who put his body on the line to clear every ball out of the box. After this extended period of defending, we slowly started to find our way back into the game, with Nazar (Year 13) utilizing his electric pace down the right wing to instil fear into the Sutton full backs. Continuing to grow into the game, Sam (Year 13) and Dino (Year 12) governed the midfield throughout the game, controlling the ball with a likeness to prime Xavi and Iniesta. About 30 minutes into the first half, almost out of nowhere, Noel (Year 12) glided towards Sutton's box only to be hacked down, giving a prime shooting opportunity to Harry (Year 13), our own set piece maestro. From 30 yards he ingeniously caressed the ball around Sutton's intimidating wall, accurately placing it in the right side of the goal, just out of reach of the diving keeper and putting us 1-0 up. The crowd on the sideline erupted with excitement, hopeful that the team could retain this lead for the rest of the game.
At the close of the first half, Sutton found themselves on an unexpected attack, with all our hopes falling on Chris (Year 13) that he could keep the ball out of the net. With the attacker nearing him, he instinctively stuck out his long leg to deny the potential goal and keep Wilson's ahead going into the break.
Following a heartfelt team talk at half time, we knew the game was in our hands. If we replicated our first half performance, we would surely be crowned champions of Sutton. As rain continued to shower upon us, we stayed resilient to retain our lead. In the second half, Ben (Year 12) made the right side of the pitch his own, winning every header and clearing every ball which came his way, putting his body on the line on more than one occasion. With the second half ending, Wilson's had Sutton in a deadlock with them unable to penetrate out defensive third. Then, after 90 minutes of battling, the referee blew for full time, crowning Wilson's as Sutton Cup champions for the fourth time in a row. However, this was no time for celebration, as we had to look onward to out London Cup semi-final the next day.
On Friday, we found ourselves up against Kinetic Crystal Palace at none other than Crystal Palace's training ground. Despite only being given a 10-minute warm up, the sun shone brightly upon the horizon, motivating us that our hard work leading up to this match would all be worth it. As the ball kicked off on the goliath of a pitch, we knew that we would have our work cut out for all 90 minutes of the match. Kinetic strung together sleek passing moves and skilful rotations, but nothing came close to breaking our experienced back line. After developing into the game, Dennis (Year 11) took control of the midfield, acting with composure to find a through ball into Asa (Year 12), whose eyes shone as he found a pathway to goal, before unleashing a magnificent effort into the top left corner of the goal, putting us 1-0 up.
We were eager to keep this momentum, with Freddie (Year 13) using his precise dribbling and exquisite long passing to continue to push us forward, working together with Ben (Year 13) who gave a defensive masterclass in midfield, having Kinetic under lock and key. Sadly, an attempted counterattack resulted in our talisman, Max (Year 13), being brutally taken out by a Kinetic defender which meant Max had to be withdrawn earlier than we would have hoped, to be replaced by Noel. Then, before the ref had the opportunity to blow his whistle for half time, Asa delicately found Bruno (Year 12—pictured at Crystal Palace Academy, banner photo above)) with a cross-field pass, who then, as he’s done all season, turned his full back inside out and coolly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner, putting us another goal ahead going into half time.
Going into the second half, it was clear the Kinetic players were reinvigorated and willing to risk it all to beat us by the final whistle. Zeph (Year 11) and Bradley (Year 13) were constantly challenged, tasked with reading the innovative dribbles of the wingers that attacked them. However, with 15 minutes, disaster struck as an intricate set of passes broke through our back line for the first time, and a good finish meant that Kinetic had a goal back against us. As the final whistle came nearer, the attacks from Kinetic didn’t stop. Vital blocks from Matt (Year 13) and several important saves from Chris (Year 13) helped maintain our lead, which secured our place in the London Cup final.
The team had performed phenomenally over the two days, deservedly securing their title of district champions and their position in the London Cup final.
Match Reports: Matt, 1st XI Captain (Year 13)
