| Gadeside Rangers made smooth headway into the fourth round of the Herts Sunday Senior Cup with a 5-1 win over St Albans side Oaks. Tom Mitchell bagged another hat-trick to take his tally for the season to 11 encapsulating a fine individual performance. |
| Manager Adam Hills was forced into a serious reshuffle with Dan Campbell, Jay Evans, James Bridges, Daniel Brooks, Ben Higginson, Ivanz Mani and Kevin Putman all missing for various reasons. But Gadeside were able to show their strength in depth as Jason Brownhill and Fionntan Murphy stepped up from the reserve team and there were welcome returns for Ian Freeman and the fit-again Toby Zhou. Gadeside were not to miss those players and were in a dominant mood from the word go. Gadeside started well on a wet and sticky Westfield pitch following overnight rain and thought they had taken the lead on 8 minutes when Tom Mitchell's header from a John Wilkins header clearly bounced over the line after hitting the underside of the bar but neither referee Harradine or his assistant awarded a goal. Gadeside's quick movement of the ball caused numerous problems for the visitors and both Tariq Khan and Wilkins had chances from close range as the visitors fought hard to keep the scores level. |
| Gadeside deservedly took the lead on 22 minutes when Tom Mitchell scored a free-kick from the edge of the box - wrongfooting the unsighted keeper - after he had brought down on the edge of the box. Matt Evans went close with a classy volley from 12 yards and Tariq Khan's curling effort was just past the upright. Another good turn by Mitchell allowed him to free Khan with a clear run on goal but the wingman dragged his shot just wide. The lead was finally doubled on 38 minutes when Tom Shurville's header was blocked on the line by an Oaks defenders hand. The referee awarded the penalty but did not produce a card. Mitchell confidently tucked away the penalty. For all Gadeside's dominance of the first half they only had a two goal lead and the visitors gave a timely reminder that they were still in the game when a right wing cross flashed dangerously across the face of goal. |
| The second half started in scrappy fashion as the pitch began to deteriorate and the two sides struggled to put two passes together. Gadeside still looked by far the more dangerous side and grabbed the all important third goal on the hour. Tom Mitchell's run created space for Tom Shurville who strode forward unchallenged before beautifully stroking the ball across the keeper to nestle in the far corner. The goal sealed the game for Gadeside who were able to relax and start playing some excellent football. Tom Mitchell completed his second successive hat-trick when he found the top left hand corner from another dead ball situation. The pick of the bunch of the three free-kicks he has scored in the last two games. John Wilkins should have added his name to the scoresheet when he rounded the keeper but then decided to try and pass to Jo Bennett and the ball was hacked away. Gadeside's fifth was a fine team effort; Jason Brownhill exchanged passes with Danny Everritt before freeing Wilkins down the left. Wilkins' cross was only half cleared out to the onrushing Brownhill who smashed the ball past the keeper. A late flurry from the hosts saw Tom Oliver produce yet another world class save - saving one handed diving full stretch to his right but he was unable to stop Oaks grabbing a consolation in the dying minutes when a flicked header from a free kick found its way in. |
| Gadeside march on into round 4 where they will play last years beaten finalists Queens Head Sandridge. Manager Adam Hills commented after the game: "The boys have earned the right to play against one of Hertfordshire's top sides. It will be tough but we will give a good account of ourselves. As for today, we were always in control and had we taken half of our chances we could have had double figures. I was very pleased with the guys who came in today and it shows that we have a very competitive squad." |
| Tom Oliver, Ian Freeman, Jason Brownhill, Matt Evans, Fionntan Murphy, Danny Everritt, Tariq Khan (Toby Zhou), Tom Shurville, John Wilkins (Justyn Walcott), Tom Mitchell, Russ Popplewell (Jo Bennett) |