London Bangla A Force for the community…
Emdad Rahman
Newark B of the Second Division tigerishly fought back against St Katharine , the in form 1st Division league leaders to progress to the Quarter finals of the Inner London Footbal League (ILFL) League Cup.
Both teams have enjoyed intense rivalry over recent years and supporters have seen some epic derby games.
St Katharine started hungrier and their smooth interchanging passes in the first 15 minutes created some great chances, only to be denied by valiant goal keeping from Khaled, the young Newark B goalkeeper.
After the early exchanges, Newark B settled into their game, with great interlinking between Imran Abdur Rob and Imran Ahmed.
The 16-19 year olds suffered a blow as St Katharine striker Kemar raced through on goal on the right side and finished off by neatly placing the ball into the back of the net via the inside post of the keeper.
Newark B were not shaken by the goal, and a ball neatly threaded through by Shanur Miah to right winger Shiabuz Zaman was whipped in dangerously and brilliantly met with a powerfully directed header into the left corner by Imran Ahmed who outjumped the opposing right back to make it 1-1.
The second half was intense and the St Katharine attack was valiantly held at bay by the passionate Newark B defence..
With St Katharine piling on the pressure Newark B got off the back foot and countered, coming close twice.
Manager Arif Abdurrahmaan relieved the pressure by bringing on 16 year old Masnoon Hussain to play as a defensive midfielder.
At 1-1 the game went to penalties. The first 2 penalties were calmly placed into the back of the net by both teams. Newark B’s left back stepped up and scored the third penalty. Newark B’s goalkeeper Khaled had claimed he would save one, and he did, beating St Katharine top scorer Kemar Thompson’s penalty round the post. Mahbub scored for Newark B, followed by another scored for St Katharine.
It was left to Imran Ahmed to take the winning penalty, placing the ball in to the top left corner. Jubilation and elation followed as fans and players celebrated jubilantly.
Newark B Manager Arif Abdurrahmaan said: “The behaviour, attitude and performance of this young team showed great character . The victory was a bonus as it showed the development of the young players in the team, moreover what pleased me the most was that St Katharine are a brilliant team renowned for their goal scoring ability with a goal difference of +34 in 9 games which is why they sit proudly on top of the first division.
“However our team played with heart and worked so well as a unit whilst implementing what they learnt during training.
“I hope Newark B can now look take the encouragement from this victory and motivate themselves to winning promotion.”
