Captain Jonnie Gurie grabbed a late winner as Islington Under-11s came from behind three times to edge a seven-goal thriller against Lewisham at Hurst Avenue.

The home side fell behind in the first minute after a missed tackle in midfield, but they recovered by building from the back and producing some excellent possession football.

A Lewisham handball in the penalty area gave Freddie Brennan the chance to equalise from the spot and it remained 1-1 at half-time, with Islington defenders Archie Linden and Tyreese Piper-Burt snuffing out the majority of their opponents’ attacks.

Lewisham did retake the lead soon after the restart, but they were pegged back again as Stephan Mgbada and Brennan combined to set up Gurie for a confident finish.

Within a minute, Lewisham were back in front – only for Mgbada to fire home a left-footed drive and make it 3-3 midway through the second half.

With Han Willhoft-King driving them forward from midfield, Islington finally went ahead three minutes from time when Gurie pounced on a deflected through ball and slotted in his second of the game.

Islington manager Michael MacNeill said: “The quality of the build-up play and the willingness of the boys to play passing football in all thirds of the pitch was an absolute joy to behold at times.”

Islington: Valtanen (Marshall), Linden, Piper-Burt, Joseph Gurie, Walker (Richards), Jonnie Gurie, Willhoft-King, Gordon (Mgbada), Brennan (Vargas).

Aaron Keto missed a penalty against Hillingdon – but recovered to score a hat-trick as Islington & Camden Under-13s began their English Schools Trophy campaign with a 6-0 win.

Keto’s spot-kick was saved with his side leading 1-0, but he responded superbly to find the net three times and set up another to round off his side’s demolition job at Hurst Avenue.

Trevelle Reid set the tone with just two minutes on the clock, driving down the right and beating his marker before cutting inside to open the scoring.

Hillingdon pressed feverishly in response, but the home side’s superiority gradually began to tell and, when the industrious Charlie Preus was felled in the box, Keto had the chance to make it 2-0 from the spot.

Despite failing to convert the kick, Keto did score just two minutes later, firing a loose ball into the corner of the net – and Solomon Hamilton then zigzagged past several opponents to slam in the third before half-time.

The visitors could not contain Keto, who netted his second goal soon after the restart and then ran onto Luc Achermann-Stanfield’s through ball to complete his treble.

Sandwiched between those goals, Hamilton had an effort disallowed, but I&C did score a sixth when Keto set up Jahrel O’Neill-Henry to find the net from close range.

Islington & Camden: Achermann-Stanfield (Acland Burghley); Damaan (Hampstead); Bebbington, Christou, Reid (Highbury Grove); McBride, Wisker (Holloway); Preus (Northbridge House); Barrington, Hamilton, O’Neill-Henry, Keto, Tani (St Aloysius); Adom (William Ellis).