Milton Road Thursday, November 24th, 2005   Other Attendance: 498         Cambridge City Youth 0-5 Nottingham Forest Youth
2005 /06

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FA Youth Cup round two City’s outstanding run in this season’s FA Youth Cup was brought to an end by a classy Forest side, packed full of internationals, who powered their way to a 5-0 victory at Milton Road. Skipper, and German U18 international Felix Bastians, was the outstanding player on the night scoring two and creating another for Matthew Thornhill who also bagged a brace. Luke Abrahart flicks on The Lilywhites worked extremely hard to match their illustrious opponents in the early stages and although forced to concede the territorial advantage the hosts closed down well and stifled much of the visitors’ creativity before they were able to pose a serious threat in the attacking third of the field. Forest registered the first serious effort on target after fifteen minutes when Bastians’ twice taken free kick from some twenty yards out pierced the defensive wall but the alert Luke Owen was down well to his left to fingertip the ball around the post. Sustained pressure paid off three minutes later however when Forest grabbed the lead. Bastians sent in a looping cross from deep on the left which was out of Owen’s reach. Thornhill rose higher than the covering defenders to power home a header from close range. To add to City’s woes star striker Phil Stebbing, who had been struggling with injury prior to the game and had already received treatment in the opening minutes was forced to limp out of the action to be replaced by Anthony Blandford. The visitors maintained the pressure and Ben Fairclough’s neat through ball sent Adam Newbold racing clear but Perry Bowe was on hand to make an important block in front of goal. Bastians continued to orchestrate play from the Forest left and as City failed to clear their lines effectively the former Borussia Dortmund player crossed invitingly for Matt Glass in front of goal but Owen dived bravely at his feet to smother the chance. Having been penned in for nearly the entire half a lightening break gave City a great opportunity to level as the interval approached. The skilful Luke Baker played a neat reverse pass into the feet of Luke Abrahart who sped down the right, cut inside and fired across Shane Redmond but the Irish international ‘keeper got down well to his right to save. Kane Rice looks to challenge It was to prove a costly miss as within 60 sixty seconds, and with only three minutes of the half remaining Forest grabbed a crucial second goal. Glass delivered a teasing cross from the right which tempted Owen to come racing off his line to collect. Unfortunately for the ‘keeper the ball held up and he was only able to make a partial connection, palming into the path of the predatory Bastians who rifled into an unguarded net. Had Ben Fairclough shown a little more composure in front of goal it could have been three at the break but having successfully chased down a clearance played through the outside right channel the England U15 international fired across the face of the target when well placed to work Owen. Having given their visitors a little too much respect in the opening period City upped the tempo after the break. Less than a minute after the restart Luke Baker, the Lilywhites’ best player on the night, robbed James Cullingworth wide on the left and turned inside but his accurate long range shot was comfortably gathered in by Redmond. Giving their opponents less time to settle on the ball City began to force the Forest defenders into conceding possession. On 54 minutes the hosts had an excellent chance to reduce the arrears when a good break down the left created the space for Abrahart to cross. The Midlanders failed to deal effectively with the centre and the loose ball fell kindly for Blandford who hit a good low shot from just inside the box but it was marginally too close to Redmond who went full length to his right and pushed the effort behind for a corner. In truth that was as good as it got for City. Having seen off the attempted comeback Forest began to reassert their authority. A swift break saw Glass speed down the right flank and knock the ball past Owen who had sprinted out of his area but fortunately for the Lilywhites Perry Bowe was on hand to clear off the line. Luke Baker nips inside There was to be no such let off when the move was repeated four minutes later however as Glass showed why he has been honoured by Scotland at international level by surging forward and delivering a dangerous centre into the area of uncertainty between defenders and goalkeeper. An apparent lack of communication saw Bowe slide in to intercept when arguably Owen should have come to collect and as a result the former Rushden player succeeded only in diverting the ball into his own net. Visibly deflated by the goal which effectively killed the game City were guilty of a lack of concentration moments later in allowing Bastians to double his tally for the evening. Collecting a short corner on the right the powerful seventeen year old who has already featured in Forest’s first team set-up was allowed to turn on the goal line and thread a shot into the far corner from the most acute of angles. Both sides used the next ten minutes to make all their available substitutions as City, to their credit, stuck to their passing game and maintained their work rate despite visible signs of tiredness starting to show in some areas. Forest rounded off what was for them a very satisfactory evening five minutes from time when yet another accurate Glass cross was met by Thornhill who powered a header into the top corner of the net despite Owen’s best efforts to keep the ball out. The final whistle brought City’s memorable Cup exploits to an end and despite the disappointment of going out of this year’s competition the players can only benefit from competing against opposition of this calibre.