Whitton hit for six

AFC Sudbury’s U18 side started their FA Youth Cup journey with a tricky away trip to Whitton United in the initial preliminary round of the competition. The Youth Cup is held in high regard amongst the entire English football community, so both sides would have been aware of the importance of the fixture before the game had begun.

Despite a contested, cagey start it would be Sudbury to take the lead around the 15 minute mark. After Ethan Mayhew had won the ball back for AFC, the ball bounced into Sam Girling’s path who took a touch to set himself before firing low into the bottom left corner from outside the box. Once they had taken the lead, the away side began to assert their dominance and before long they doubled their advantage.

Ellis Girling beat his man down the right and set the ball for Sam Girling who helped it on for fellow midfielder Joe Osborn. Osborn wriggled his way past 2 defenders in the penalty area and then shot high into the net with an emphatic finish to give his side a two goal cushion.

AFC continued to prove they were the better side and were carving chance after chance. It was a matter of time before they added a third and put daylight between themselves and their opposition and they would proceed to do exactly that with no more than 15 minutes until half time. Jake Horlock the scorer this time and after a wonderful move starting with keeper Sam Wright, Harry Critchley was slid in down the left as he flashed the ball across the area for Horlock, who couldn’t miss from 3 yards. 0-3 at the break !

The second half started as the first finished, with Sudbury on top and Whitton defending for their lives. It took just 2 minutes for them to add a 4th and for Horlock to grab his brace. Critchley’s clearance released the frontman through on goal and a composed finish evaded the keeper and dampened their oppositions spirits.

Whitton switched off for the 5th and some lazy defending resulted in a penalty. Central defender Matt Wooldridge was brought down in the box and Mayhew stepped up to place the ball past the Whitton goalie despite his best efforts.

Following this goal a sequence of AFC substitutions saw Josh Tysoe, Josh Hughes and Shane Temple replace Sam Girling, Matt Wooldridge and Harry Critchley. Two of these substitutes would combine to round off the scoring as Josh Hughes pinged a terrific 60 yard diagonal ball into the path of Shane Temple. He watched the ball bounce once then unleashed the sweetest of volleys from outside the 18 yard box. It dipped viciously over the keeper who stood no chance, a wonderful finish.

0-6 it would end as the young yellows began their Youth Cup journey in the right way, with plenty of momentum to carry into the next round!

By Sam Girling