Match Report: 1st Team 0-5 Castle United (Sat 24th Oct)
Forest United lost 5-0 to Castle United at home on Saturday in the Essex Junior Cup.
This was the first of three matches to take place between the two Ilford & District League Premier division teams this season & with both teams eager to progress in the Essex Junior Cup, it was perhaps unfortunate that both teams had been drawn against each other in the first round of this county cup competiton.
In contrast to the final score line it was Forest United that played the better football in the opening exchanges of the first half. With some crisp passing & surging runs forward, Castle Utd were forced onto the back foot. However Forest failed to take advantage of their early domination & Castle Utd scored the opening goal of the game, against the run of play. A long ball over the top from Castle Utd was not dealt with by the Forest defence & Castle's forward (Who produced a man of the match performance) caused endless problems before breaking clear to score. Castle Utd than increased their lead as more indecision at the back for Forest produced errors that Castle Utd ruthless exploited. Forest now found themselves 2-0 down & the damage continued as Castle Utd score once again to give themselves a 3-0 lead, which they still held at half-time.
After some choice words were shared between the Forest team during the break, a spirited performance saw Forest create some good chances but fail to beat the Castle Utd defence & keeper. Castle Utd soaked up the pressure, while still seeking to hit back on the counter attack & score the goal that would kill of the game completely. Forest seemed to be doing well as the second half worn on. But some poor errors of judgement were once again punished as Castle Utd score two further goals later in the second half. The match ended with Castle Utd securing a impressive 5-0 away win.
Forest United, having now played th currente top team in the Premier Division, are under no illusions now as to what will be required to ensure victory against Castle United in the future league matches, later in the season. The question is, with this current Forest United team in a state of transition, thanks to the depart of some players & the arrival of others, will they be in a position to achieve a more positive result against the division leaders in the league encounters to come?