| Gadeside Rangers Reserves crashed out of the Herts Junior County Cup, their final cup competition of the season - after a dismal first half display in which they conceded four sloppy goals to Mercury Waltham league leaders Rosemill FC. After making a bright start, Gadeside pressed the self destruct button and let in three goals in quick succession. They never really recovered from that. |
| John Gooden made several foraging runs down the left hand side and was ably supported by Kieran Marks. Toby Zhou nearly got on the end of one of the several crosses but was unable to convert. The visitors took the lead on 21 minutes as their playmaker scored with a pacey free kick. Just two minutes later and the lead was doubled. Gadeside's defence was caught flat and one ball over the top saw a striker run on to finish well. With the Gadeside team stunned, the visitors scored their third on 28 minutes. A poor free kick by Gadeside saw the ball cleared and another long pass went straight through the heart of the Gadeside defence to where a striker cooly finished. |
| To their credit Gadeside kept playing and looked dangerous going forward. Zhou saw another effort drop just wide but made amends on the half hour mark when he superbly headed home a Will Byrne cross. Meren Rojo replaced the injured Byrne shortly after and crafted some good chances for Gadeside. Toby Zhou should have scored from close range but the ball was hacked off the line, James Bryon went close with a dipping volley and Kevin Putman fired wildly over. But Rosemill regained their three goal advantage on 39 minutes when referee Snowdon awarded a penalty for a foul by Joe Bennett despite the offence being clearly outside the area. The penalty was duely converted. |
| Again Gadeside came back and grabbed a lifeline right on half time when James Bryon's powerful shot was deflected home by Meren Rojo. The second half was a tame affair in comparison with the first and whilst Gadeside threw men forward in search of goals, they often looked vulnerable on the break. But the damage had been done by some woeful defending in the first half. Gadeside's reserves are left to concentrate on their promotion campaign. |
| Tom Oliver, Mike Ashby (Ian Freeman), Kieran Marks, Joe Bennett, Gavin Parsons, Mark Cassidy, James Bryon, Kevin Putman, Toby Zhou, Will Byrne (Meren Rojo), John Gooden (Adam Hills) |