Islington & Camden Under-13s battled hard against a strong Brent side before losing out 4-2 in their Middlesex League clash at St Aloysius’ College.
The visitors took a first-minute lead when Caleb Watts netted a penalty and Dominic D’Souza doubled their advantage, but an excellent strike from Binyam Mesfin made it 2-1 midway through the first half.
Felix Amoah’s eye-catching finish restored Brent’s two-goal cushion after the break, only for a mazy run from Osee Kilunga to set up his fellow Aloysian Kingsley Nyinah for the home side’s second goal.
Islington & Camden pressed for an equaliser, but they were caught on the counter-attack as Watts grabbed his second of the game to clinch his side’s win.
“We played a very good team and were pegged against it from the start,” admitted I&C manager Shaun Banham. “But the boys played really well, and a special mention must go to our man of the match Jace Osinake.”
Mark Stephenson’s double was not enough to save Islington & Camden Under-12s as they were edged out 5-3 by Haringey after extra time.
The I&C boys recovered a deficit on three occasions, with captain Harry Smith on target before Stephenson hit a brace – but they were eventually undone in the second half of extra time.
Haringey opened the scoring, but the visitors levelled before half-time when Joe Bentham’s free-kick struck the crossbar and Smith followed up to tap home.
Stephenson then cancelled out the second Haringey goal, rifling a shot into the bottom corner to make it 2-2 – only for the home side to regain the lead in the first half of extra time.
Although Stephenson came to Islington & Camden’s rescue with another clinical finish, Haringey’s extra strength came to the fore and they sealed victory with two strikes in quick succession.
Islington & Camden: Evert, O’Malley, Seyoum (St Aloysius), Heppel (Haverstock), Smith, Julian, Makaya (Holloway), Khaleel (William Ellis), Darrach (Marylebone), Bentham, Scheinmann (Acland Burghley), Stephenson (IAMS).
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