Under 20s through to the next round

Match Report – by Terry Oakley
Eastern Counties Under 20’s Knock Out Cup
Kings Lynn versus Peterborough
15th January 2023 at Lynnsport Leisure Centre, Kings Lynn

Kings Lynn Squad
  1 Imogen Senter (Goalkeeper)
  3 Will Dickerson
  4 Thomas Barker
  5 Josh Futter (Captain)
  6 Alfie Poppy
  8 Taylor McAree
  9 Ben Coles
10 Leena Futter (GK – Did not play) 
Peterborough Squad

1   Anthony Williams (Goalkeeper – 2nd Half)
2   Tom Hillam
3   Milo Carter
4   Declan Lander (Captain)
5   Luca Oakley
6   Harry Hillam
7   Josh Aaltonen
8   James Berry
9   Lily Messenger
10 Tyler Salmon (Goalkeeper – 1st Half)

Referees:- Zak Robinson and Kevan Berry.

Peterborough went straight onto the offensive from the first whistle.  Imogen Senter, in the Kings Lynn goal, made three fine saves in the first two minutes blocking shots from Josh Aaltonen, Declan Lander and Luca Oakley.  This was followed up by another two good saves from Imogen from Declan Lander and Luca Oakley. Kings Lynn responded with a fine slapshot from Josh Futter which was competently batted away by Tyler Salmon in the Peterborough goal.  A slick move involving Tom Hillam and Josh Aaltonen almost broke the deadlock but Josh’s flick just missed the left upright of the Kings Lynn goal.  One minute later the breakthrough happened.  Luca Oakley latched onto a loose ball in the centre of the rink and advanced quickly forward and unleashed a fine slapshot into the bottom right hand corner of the Kings Lynn net.  Kings Lynn 0 Peterborough 1.

The main threat that Peterborough needed to pay close attention to was the foraging runs from the Kings Lynn Captain, Josh Futter.  He has a fierce slapshot and on several occasions Peterborough players bravely held their ground as he wound up for one of his trademark shots.  However, another fine move involving Josh Aaltonen and Luca Oakley resulted in a clever ball slipped inside by Josh to Luca and despite being surrounded by three Kings Lynn players he managed to get his flick shot away into the top right hand corner of the Kings Lynn net.  Kings Lynn 0 Peterborough 2.

Peterborough continued to take the initiative in this match and following a fine run by Declan Lander his timely slapshot, unfortunately, struck the Kings Lynn left hand goal post with the goalkeeper beaten.  Declan then followed this up by breaking down the right hand side of the Kings Lynn defence and as he advanced towards their goal he cleverly lifted the ball off of the rink into the air and juggled with it on his stick three times before lifting it over the Kings Lynn goalie only for it to just miss the left hand upright of her goal.  That would have been a spectacular goal!

Half Time Kings Lynn 0 Peterborough 2.

Kings Lynn started the second half with much more purpose than they showed in the first half.  Josh Futter again broke forward and hit another slapshot which was well palmed away by Anthony Williams (playing in goal for Peterborough in the second half).  Peterborough were playing the “carousel” with continuing patience and were rewarded when Luca Oakley advanced into the space created by the swift movement of the ball between two players in wide positions and as the gap opened in front of him he hit a fine slapshot into the right hand top corner of the Kings Lynn net for his hat trick.  Kings Lynn 0 Peterborough 3.

Despite going behind three nil the forward runs and shots by Josh Futter, from his deep defensive role, still kept the Peterborough players on their toes.  A good flick shot from Josh produced a fine save from Anthony Williams just as it looked odds on to find the Peterborough net.  A fine run and shot by Milo Carter, unfortunately, struck the Kings Lynn post and rebounded to safety.  Milo hit another hard shot a minute later which was well saved by Imogen in the Kings Lynn goal.  However, Milo was not to be denied as he linked up well with Tom Hillam in the next Peterborough move.  Tom’s timely pass to Milo, as they outnumbered the Kings Lynn defence two to one, was gleefully swept home by Milo with the Kings Lynn goalkeeper exposed to this swift attacking move.  Kings Lynn 0 Peterborough 4. 
Kings Lynn responded by another strong run forward by Josh Futter and his slapshot was well saved by Anthony in the Peterborough goal.  Two minutes later a melee developed in front of the Peterborough goal.  In a frantic few seconds Anthony Williams produced three fine saves.  Two were from Josh Futter and the third from Thomas Barker.  Anthony managed to scramble the last shot from Thomas Barker away from his goal to the relief of the Peterborough players.  For the remaining few minutes of the match Peterborough played a patient game of keeping the ball to finish the game off. 

Full Time Kings Lynn 0 Peterborough 4.

Arthur Corr’s (Peterborough’s Coach) Man of the Match:- Luca Oakley - Peterborough.  - Hat Trick of goals.

This proved to be a comfortable cup victory for Peterborough and they played some excellent hockey. Peterborough’s full Under 20’s squad all have had Premier League experience this season and this showed in their play during this match.  They played with patience and injected their explosive speed just at the right times when it was needed to open up the tight, well organised Kings Lynn defence. 

Peterborough now wait to hear who they play in the next round of the cup from the winners of the Cambridge/Cottenham and Letchworth tie.

Full Match Photo's Click Here