Pan Community have won the Junior ‘A’ Cup by beating Northwood St Johns Reserves at Beatrice Avenue on Wednesday evening (13th April).
Pan began on the front foot, with Ross Lacey having shots narrowly miss the Northwood goal in the 7th and 8th minutes and a shot saved in the 13th.
However, it was Northwood who were to score 1st when Oscar Grant converted a Leigh MacKenzie cross against the run of play (0-1).
In the 24th minute, Pan’s Lennox Dunkling saw his powerful shot deflected over the crossbar. Then, in the 29th minute, Pan equalized through Sam Williams from 6 yards (1-1).
Pan continued to press, taking the lead through Ross Lacey after a goalmouth scramble in the Northwood penalty area a minute before the half time interval (2-1).
Half time: Pan Community 2-1 Northwood St Johns Reserves
After the interval, Northwood battled gamely to find an equalizer with Ollie Cousins and Leigh MacKenzie shooting over the crossbar. Pan also had a chance to extend their lead with Ash Gulliver heading just past the upright. Northwood felt aggrieved when Pan’s Sam Shepherd fouled Connor England on the edge of the penalty area with no card given by the referee against the Pan player.
In the 60th minute, Pan extended their lead when Ash Gulliver converted a Josh Gwilliam cross (3-1). The Newport side were unlucky not to have extended their lead further when a Mark Taylor strike bounced off the Northwood upright.
In the 75th minute, Pan were reduced to 10 men when Ash Gulliver was sinbinned for dissent. 2 minutes later, it was game on again when Northwood’s Ollie Cousins converted a pass from Leigh MacKenzie to narrow the Pan advantage to a single goal (3-2). Shortly after scoring, Northwood believed they should have been awarded a spot kick when Leigh MacKenzie was body checked in the penalty area.
The final word of the game belonged to Pan centre forward Mark Taylor, who knocked the ball past Northwood keeper Lewis Murray in the 82nd minute (4-2) before volleying the ball past Murray from the edge of the penalty area in the 1st minute of injury time (5-2).
Full time: Pan Community 5-2 Northwood St Johns Reserves
Pan Community: Williams, S. Shepherd, Thorne, Williams, Piper (c), Dunkling, Case, J. Gwilliam, Taylor, Gulliver, Lacey Subs: Davies, Hatton, S. Gwilliam
Northwood St Johns Reserves: Murray, Rogers, Rigby, Allen (c), Oatley, Morgan, Butt, Grant, Cousins, MacKenzie, Kirkpatrick Subs: England, Bates, Rose
Pan Coach Josh Davies said after the game:
“Prior to the walk out manager Steve Case personally shook every player’s hand and congratulated them for being in the final and their efforts so far this season. With this in their minds and with such positivity in the dressing room, there was only going to be one winner tonight.
“Steve, John and myself couldn’t be prouder of how the lads took to the occasion. Even when going a goal down, they dug deep, and played some great football. The momentum and desire we carried throughout was clearly too much for Northwood.
“As with most of the big games we have faced this season, we just wanted it more than our opponents. That, paired with the fantastic bunch of footballers in the squad, it will take something special to stop us. Let’s hope with the Junior A now in the bag we carry on in our pursuit for both the league and Hampshire Vase.”
Pan assistant manager John Sivier said:
“Our target was promotion this season and hopefully a cup. We are on course to do even better than this with the Hants Vase to come, and 2 wins away from promotion. The lads have been fantastic. They never give up and seem to find that extra drive when needed. We are proud of the whole squad.”
Pan Community are also in the final of the Hampshire Vase. On 23rd April, they play Eastleigh side St Francis at Havant.
Pan currently lead Isle of Wight Division 2 by 6 points and are seeking 2 further trophies this season to add to the Junior ‘A’ Cup.
