Excerpt from Capital Football:
The question posed of Western Suburbs leading into this weekend is “could their kids do it on a cold Saturday in Seaview?” The answer, emphatically, is “yes.”
If they don’t lose too many players to university later this winter, Western Suburbs must consider themselves a chance to win the Chatham Cup and Central League double.
Declan Edge might play coy, but their destruction of the third best team in the Central League, Stop Out, speaks to their capabilities. They have handled all comers this winter and Stop Out could barely muster a strike on target in answer to Wests’ five goals.
Again it was Wests’ smothering defence to the fore. Putting the game beyond real doubt by the end of the first half with two goals forced from Stop Out’s defensive errors. Every man, although some of them are hardly that, in the Wests’ team defends when they don’t have possession and not less than three of the five goals they scored were from turnovers in their attacking third.
Just scored the first. A poorly played out-ball fell to Owen Parker-Price who laid off a simple ball to Just’s left foot and he dispatched it soundly into the side netting.
It was very nearly half time when Xavier Green put Wests 2-0 up and effectively ended the game. Suburbs pressing Stop Out hard then some quick interplay nearly had the ball in the net, it spilled to the back post where Green bundled it, and himself, home.
Stop Out, who had to reshuffle twice in the first half as injuries robbed them of Scott Henderson and the influential Steven Gulley, came out much better in the second half. Cherbal Khouchaba was central to proceedings for them, filling in for Gulley in the middle of midfield. But they just couldn’t get in behind Wests and every time Wests countered, they looked dangerous.
Suburbs rattled the Stop Out crossbar but in the end it was a that penalty gave them a third, Owen Parker-Price’s decent penalty saved superbly but Just was on hand to get his second.
He would complete his hat trick with 20 to go before Wests scored a fifth through Matt Garbett and Stop Out got a consolation penalty after a hand ball.
5-1 the final score and a fair reflection of play.
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