Leyton United’s unbeaten run in the Hackney Marshes Saturday Youth Football League came to an end at the hands of Unity Youth after they were beaten 1-0 courtesy of a fantastic second-half freekick, reports Lane Dias.
On a cold and windy Saturday afternoon at Hackney Marshes, Leyton looked to extend their lead at the top of the league.
In a tightly contested game, Youth had a handful of opportunities. They looked to open the scoring when their number 2 created a yard of space before firing an effort that was superbly denied by the fingertips of the Leyton keeper.
Leyton didn’t really trouble Youth’s keeper, but they did look a threat on the counter-attack. Their number 12 was proving to be too much for the Youth defence to handle, evading challenge after challenge, before eventually being closed down on separate occasions.
After the break Leyton were in the ascendancy, and with practically the first opportunity of the second period, substitute number 18 found number 8, who volleyed inches wide.
However, despite Leyton’s dominance in the second half, it was Youth who found the opener and in spectacular fashion. Number 5 stepped up to curl a free kick into the top corner, leaving Leyton’s keeper with no chance.
The leaders needed a response and went very close. Their number 5’s volley from a corner was cleared off the line.
Late on Youth should have put the game to bed. Following a swift counter-attack, their number 2 was played clean through, but he shot straight at the Leyton keeper.
Youth were almost made to rue that miss with virtually the last kick of the game. Leyton’s number 14 was played through on-goal, but he lost his footing and fired wide – missing the chance to salvage a point.
Leyton’s coach believed his side should have won the game. “We beat this team 5-2 in the first round,” he said. “We played too defensively I guess – I wish we could have attacked from the first minute to the last.
“Number 12 always plays very well, but our striker (number 8 has scored 46 goals in 18 matches) didn’t have a good game [due to injury]. It was his first game without a goal, and we paid for it. Hopefully we’ll win the rest of the matches, but now it’s very difficult to win the league.”