Hiller the hero as Oaks edge through
PETER MORRISON TROPHY ROUND TWO
FOOTBALL DAN Kristall saluted goalkeeper James Hiller as Oakwood edged into the quarter-finals of the National Cup with a hard-fought win over first division Jewdinese.
Oakwood were unable to breach a well-breached five-man Jewdinese defence in the early stages. It eventually took something special to break them down and up stepped Josh Bharier who produced a stunning solo effort to open the scoring. Collecting the ball on the halfway line, Bharier turned his marker before racing away and slotting past Ben Halmer.
Jewdinese drew level 10 minutes into the second half when Zack Collins fed Grant Reingold who whipped in a dangerous cross for Billy Lee to turn home.
Oakwood regained the advantage five minutes later when Harvey Kaye’s cross was headed home by Simon Davies.
Jewdinese were handed a lifeline with 20 minutes remaining when Scott Oldstein was upended, but James Ross, who had a perfect conversion rate from the penalty spot this season, saw his shot superbly saved by the outstretched hand of Hiller, who was deputising for the injured Joe Botchin.
The home side piled on the pressure in the closing stages, with Sam Stern going close before Ben Berrick’s curling corner somehow hit the crossbar three times before Collins fired their final opportunity over.
Oakwood joint-manager Dan Kristall said: “It was a very tough game against a well-organised, well-supported and good Jewdinese side. In the end James’s brilliant penalty save late on proved the key moment in the game.”
“In truth, and on that showing, they would be fine in the Premier Division and I am convinced, just as two or three other first division teams, Jewdinese would cause lots of top-flight teams problems.”
Kristall admits Oakwood “had to really dig in and we have our keeper to thank for the game not going to extratime”. He went on to say: “Given the amount of subs they had compared to us, I think they would have been massive favourites in extra-time.”
Kristall was delighted Oakwood were able to “produce a strong performance after four players dropped out on the eve of the game”. He said: “Kyle Bentwood was only able to give us the last 15 minutes as he is recovering from injury, so this was always going to be a tough test.
“We were hanging on at the end but found the resolve to see the game out and advance. But the result is the main thing in cup football and we advance to a very tough quarter-final against HMH. For now, we have a fortnight to recover the walking wounded and prepare for part two against Jewdinese in the League Cup. We will have to be even better to beat them again.” Jewdinese boss Darren Lawrence responded: “I’m extremely proud of every single player. They stuck to the game-plan, made it extremely difficult for Oakwood to create any chances and on another day, we could’ve come away with the win. We can definitely hold our heads high.” James Hiller