FA premier academy league U19 - QPR vs Arsenal 05/05/01

FA Premier Academy League, under-19, playoff semi-final

Saturday 5 May 2001

Queens Park Rangers 1 (1) Arsenal 1 (1)

QPR win 4-3 on penalties

Arsenal: Graham Stack; Israel (Stephen Santry ~40), Sebastian Svard, Ben Chorley, Ryan Garry; Steven Sidwell, Rohan Ricketts, Jerome Thomas, Moritz Volz; Jeremie Aliadiere (Jermaine Brown h-t), Carlin Itonga
Subs not used: Craig Holloway, Nicky Nicolau

Scorers: Itonga ~20?

Arsenal eventually lost a gruelling and closely-fought Academy league play-off semi-final at the QPR training ground in Acton on Saturday, a game they probably should have won, both on paper and in the actual event. After taking the lead in the 1st half but conceding an equaliser just before the break, the young Gunners proceeded to hit the bar 3 times in the 2nd half and extra time, once from the penalty spot, and then scored only 3 of seven spot kicks in the penalty shootout.

Having grossly underestimated the time it would take to reach the depths of West London suburbia, I managed to miss the first 25 minutes or so of the first half. I therefore didn't see Arsenal's goal, scored I was told by Carlin Itonga. Arsenal appeared to be having the better of things, but soon after I arrived Israel went off apparently injured and was replaced by Santry. Volz had been playing in midfield but moved to right back with Santry taking his place in the middle, and about five minutes after the change QPR equalised. A cross from the right eluded everyone in the middle and went through to Walshe, I think the QPR left winger, at the far post and he slotted it home from an angle a few yards out.

The home team then seemed to gain confidence and pressed forward for the remaining few minutes of the half. The second half was pretty even, with both sides struggling to create much in the way of real openings, though Arsenal's greater individual craft meant they had the more clear cut. Chorley hit the bar with a looping header from a corner, Brown (on for the presumably injured Aliadiere at half time) was put in, I think by Thomas' pass, but was denied by a quite brilliant save from the QPR keeper Bull. He also made a couple more great saves before the end of the 90 minutes, I think from Santry and Thomas.

At the other end Stack tipped what I think was intended as a cross over the bar, and some slack coordination in central defence let Parquette break through onto the end of a long ball. With Stack off his line he tried to lift an early shot over the keeper, but miscued it horribly.

In extra time there was more of the same. Arsenal had their chances to win it, most notably when Thomas was tripped by the keeper at the end of a scintillating run through the middle. Sidwell stepped up to take the penalty but blasted it against the bar and the ball rebounded to be hacked to safety. After the midway point, a great chase and run down the right by Itonga ended with him cutting the ball back from the byline for Brown, but he placed a careful sidefoot shot against the bar. At the other end QPR came close to winning it just before the final whistle, when the ball ping-ponged around the area during an almighty scramble at a corner, but it was eventually hacked to safety.

And so to penalties, which ended with QPR winning 4-3 after 7 penalties each. Arsenal went first, and the sequence if I remember rightly went something like:
Ricketts scored with a shot placed perfectly into the side netting.
QPR missed: 1-0 to Arsenal
Sidwell's sidefoot shot to the keeper's left was anticipated by Bull, and though well placed the keeper made a brilliant save.
QPR scored: 1-1
Volz's firmly hit and reasonably well placed shot to the keeper's right was again brilliantly saved by Bull.
QPR scored: 1-2
Santry scored with a firmly struck shot placed just inside the right hand post
QPR hit the post (I think Stack may have just got a touch): 2-2
Stack walked from between the posts to the penalty spot, and blasted his shot, but the keeper went the right way and it was close enough to allow him to beat it out.
Stack then redeemed himself with a brilliant full length save, tipping QPR's final and potentially game winning penalty onto the post: 2-2 after 5 pens each
Brown scored with another well placed penalty into the bottom left hand corner
QPR equalised: 3-3
The keeper for once went the wrong way, but Garry drove his penalty against the bar and it bounced down just in front of the line.
Stack went the wrong way and QPR scored the game winning penalty: 4-3

Overall I didn't think Arsenal played as well as they can, though conditions were quite difficult, with a bitingly cold wind blowing down the pitch and an uneven surface with unusually (perhaps intentionally so) long grass which looked more suited to rugby... However, they still should have won, and the main reason they didn't was the QPR keeper Nikki Bull who made several outstanding saves in normal play, and then won the penalty shootout for them. QPR now play Nottingham Forest who beat Everton 2-0 in the other semi-final.

QPR perhaps were taking it slightly more seriously, the striker Pacquette has played for their first team recently, whereas Arsenal were using all under-18s, and chose not to use the likes of Pennant, Barrett, Kuffour, Halls and Chilvers who were all eligible to play. I guess the last thing they wanted, with the U18 FA Youth Cup semi-final 2nd leg coming up tomorrow, was such a gruelling match. I'd have expected much the same time for tomorrow's game with the addition of Pennant, and it took 3 hours to complete and Thomas, Volz and Ricketts all looked like they were carrying knocks/suffering from cramp at the end of the match to add to what were presumably injuries to Israel and Aliadiere.

Derek

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