League Representative Fixtures
Final
Division One East 2 Division One West 3
Wednesday, 19 March 2003
The Annual Hellenic League Challenge match sponsored by 'Woodstock Arts' was played at Henley Town on Wednesday evening and saw Division One West narrowly beat Division One East 3-2 in the third meeting between the two Divisions in a competitive match that started with a bang.
From the kick off by the West the East broke down the right at speed in the shape of Bisley?s Darren Thorne, who proved a constant threat from the right, Ian Jones of Hounslow was racing through the middle and latched onto a perfect through ball from Thorne, but his speed was such that he was bundled over in the area from behind for a 1st minute penalty. After calmly dusting himself down Jones calmly slotted in the penalty. Play moved from end to end with both defence?s in control and no clear chances appeared until the 18th minute when Witney United?s Ben Border, seeing everybody covered in front of him, let fly from 25 yards to beat the keeper just inside the post. The West held the upper hand for a while and should have gone ahead in the 25th minute when Freeman latched onto a telling cross but his volley when straight into the keeper, a foot either side?? After that the East used their speed to try and open up the West but failed to find the last telling pass.
Half Time: 1-1
The 2nd half saw changes up front for both sides and the freshness added to the expectancy. But it took till the 56th minute for another fast break by the Craig Henney of Prestwood to hammer in another well placed through ball to put the East 2-1 up. The West tried to step up a gear and this paid off when from a break down the left the cross seemed to elude the defence to reach Slimbridge striker Julian Freeman near the far post, and he made no mistake with this volley to equalise. The steam seemed to be draining from the East and the West gradually began to take control and dominate the game. With ten minutes left the West took the lead for the first time when Ardley United striker Stuart Beavon jinked his way in from the left to the edge of the six yard box and hit a hard cross that the fast retreating defence could only divert into their own net.
The East never really had an answer after that and the West finished 3-2 ahead to lead the series 2 to 1.
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