LONDON APSA THROUGH TO ELE RED LEAGUE CUP FINAL

01/05/2016

FULL TIME: London APSA 3-2 Walthamstow Wolves (Scorers: Akram Miah (x1) Abaan Patel (x1) Taher Mahmood (x1)

London APSA under 13s have reached their 2^nd cup final in a row after beating Walthamstow Wolves 3-2 in the East London and Essex Junior League Cup semi-final, in a thrilling game at Wanstead flats.

Skipper Akram Miah gave the manor park boys the lead in the first few minutes of the intense encounter, when he got to the end of a long goal kick taken by APSA keeper Shafiiq Shipkoylee and rounded the Walthamstow Wolves keeper, to finish off and give his side the 1-0 lead, but within minutes Walthamstow Wolves hit back before the break, after some miss control from the APSA defence who failed to clear the ball which fell to the feet of a Walthamstow player who made it 1-1 at half time. 

Walthamstow Wolves applied some pressure in the opening few minutes of the second half, however it was APSA who got the lead when vice-captain Taher Mahmood went for a sprinting run with the ball along the wing before crossing it into Abaan Patel to tap in and give APSA the lead again.

It was Taher Mahmood who was the man in the spotlight again as he dazzled with his skills past the opposition defence into the 18 yard box before he was fouled by a Walthamstow Wolves player and the referee immediately pointed at the spot, Taher Mahmood stepped up and fired it away, it was now 3-1 to APSA.

Walthamstow Wolves pulled a goal back through a penalty to make it 3-2 and applied so much pressure to the APSA defence for an equalizer however after solid defensive duties and discipline, London APSA held on to win the tie 3-2.

This is the second cup final London APSA have to look forward to having also reached the London and Middlesex Football for Change Cup final, and after witnessing a thrilling game manager Hafiz Ahmed had his say ‘This match has to be one of the best games I seen our boys play all season, they showed a lot of character, gave 100% and never gave up, we now have 2 cup finals to look forward to, we will work hard in training and see what happens next’. 

London APSA will play Clissold Rangers in the Under 13s ELE League cup final at Fords Sports Club, Redbridge on Saturday 21^st May 2016.