Rovers youth downed in League Cup

Kempston Rovers took the decision to field a side of players from the Development Team, most of whom were members of last season’s successful Under 18 side away at Welwyn Garden City in the Southern League Cup.

The youthful side found themselves behind in the second minute as a bullet header found the net from Zanone. Rovers had the chance to equalise when Evan Beldon rounded the keeper but couldn’t beat the man on the line. It was two nil before twenty minutes, when Corran controlled and finished neatly. The task for Kempston was made more difficult before the break, when Jonny Lam was deemed to have handled on the goal line after Michael Hudson had rushed out of his goal. Welwyn Garden City scored the resultant penalty, while Lam had been dismissed.

Three nil down, down to ten men and with most of the team involved in their first senior fixture, to their credit Kempston didn’t shirk the task at hand. Despite a further five goals in the second half, the level of performance and commitment from the young side never dipped. Late on skipper Perry Ronayne had a glorious chance late on to give the fans that had travelled to the game something to cheer as he burst into the box but Welwyn had a man back on the line to clear the shot.

Rovers will be back in league action with a first team on Saturday, when they entertain Peterborough Sports, who are riding high in the table.

Line up
1 Michael Hudson (Johnathan Thick 45), 2 Harry Lowe (Angelo Moscaritolo 64), 3 Josh Burnapp, 4 Perry Ronayne (C), 5 Jonny Lam, 6 Dom Palmieri, 7 Deji Olodude, 8 Will Barrett, 9 Dan Ashley (Simeon Horne 45), 10 Angus McGuinness, 11 Evan Beldon
Subs 12 Naron Cheema, 14 Simeon Horne, 15 Angelo Moscaritolo, 16 Jamie Felts, GK Johnathan Thick