By Sam Gillinder
Horsforth St Margaret’s played Leeds City in the quarter finals of the Leeds and District FA Senior Cup, with a place in the semi finals at stake.
The fixture was played at Horsforth’s home venue King George’s Playing Field.
The match was initially delayed by 40 minutes due to the referee not showing up and a last minute replacement had to be found. Had a replacement not been found both teams would have had to forfeit their place in the tournament.
At the start of this encounter the two teams sat fourth and fifth in the West Yorkshire Association Football League Division 1, so a close game was expected. The previous meeting saw a 2-1 win to Horsforth on Leeds City’s patch.
From the first whistle the game became fast paced and Leeds opened the scoring in the first four minutes. The ball was put into the crowded penalty area and Horsforth were unable to prevent an early goal.
The home team immediately answered when Jake Kilbride rounded the opposition’s goalkeeper and put the ball into the net.
Adam Gregory made the score 2-1 when he found space in the area and slotted the ball past the goalie’s left.
Kenan Can scored an incredible left foot volley to make the score 3-1 to Horsforth. Then Kilbride scored an amazing lob of the keeper from 20 yards, 4-1.
Kilbride attempted a first half hat-trick, but his left foot shot went narrowly wide.
At half time it was 4-1, with Horsforth having dominated the game.
In the second half Leeds City enjoyed more possession, prompting the Horsforth coaches to make some tactical substitutions.
Horsforth scored a bullet shot courtesy of Connor Peat midway through the second half to make the score 5-1.
Leeds forced a good save by the Horsforth goalkeeper after a decent attempt from a direct free kick. They also hit the post.
Near the end of the match Leeds City scored from a corner but by then there was insufficient time to make the game result in their favour.
The final result finished Horsforth St Margaret’s 5 Leeds City 2.
They progress to the semis with – in coach Drew McMillan’s words – a “talented squad”.
Playing like this there is no reason why Horsforth St Margarets cannot win this competition and when asked whether they can win the entire tournament, coach Tom Fisher added: “Why not!”
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