3 Aldenham Teams progress to the next round of the ISFA Cup

Congratulations to all our footballers and staff involved in the recent three ISFA 2nd Round Cup. In this national competition it is excellent to see the three teams progress to the third round of their respective competitions: the U15s beat Ibstock Place 1-0 with Lewis Smith scoring the winning goal, the U13s had an emphatic 7-0 win against Rokeby School and the 1st XI triumphed over Ardingly who have won the Cup for the last two years. Despite going 1-0 behind, then 3-1 behind and then 4-3 behind, they came back to win on penalties.

Ardingly scored early in the first half to take the lead into half time. However, Aldenham came back well in the second half as Oran Swales equalised with a low strike from just inside the box. Ardingly quickly retook the lead with a devastating counter attacking goal and they looked to have won the game when they went 3-1 up with just 5 minutes to go. Lesser teams would have given up but Aldenham dug deep to score 2 late goals through an Oran Swales wonder strike from 25 yards and then a knock down from a corner which was finished off well by Billie Busari to take the game into extra time. Against the run of play Ardingly again retook the lead after another swift counter attack but Aldenham weren’t finished and an equaliser from Xavier Amaechi took the game to penalties. Keeper Greg Ellingham was the hero saving two of the Ardingly penalties to see Aldenham through to the next round. A really great result for Aldenham.

In the next round the U13s will play Royal Russell at Home, the U15s take on Repton (Away) and the 1st XI’ play Hampton (Away). Good luck to all our teams!