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eFlicker.net
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Close call for champion Collins
By Matt Lishman
The Witton Albion National Open provided a much more pleasing turn-out of youngsters than that of the Dumfries event two weeks earlier, with England internationals Anthony Collins, Sam Curtis, Tom Motley, Matt Lishman and Tom and Ed Whitehead all in contention, along with North West newcomer, Jenna Allison.
As all players competed in the open as well as the under-19 event, fixtures had to be squeezed in as time was running short. This meant that five of the youths were forced to withdraw from the latter stages of the plate event, in order to take part in the youth tournament.
Played in a straight knock-out system, the event was one of the most competitive of those seen so far this season.
Kicking off at the quarter-final stage were Ed Whitehead and Sam Curtis. In an explosive encounter, Curtis suffered a rare early defeat as Whitehead triumphed 1-0.
Curtis couldn't find a crucial goal, spurning numerous opportunities throughout the game. And Curtis' loss was Whitehead's gain as he capitalised on some slack defending to score the decisive goal.
In other quarter-final matches, Tom Motley breezed through with ease, seeing off Jenna Allison 5-1, whilst Matt Lishman recorded another impressive victory against Tom Whitehead, winning 3-0 with all goals coming in the second half. Anthony Collins had a bye.
The semi-finals were littered with controversy.
The telling contest of the semi-finals came between England under-19 number 1 Anthony Collins and Tom Motley of Cheshire Corinthians. Collins, looking to overcome the despair of a semi-final exit at Knighton, started the proceedings the more aggressive, and took the lead before half-time.
Motley came back strongly in the second half. But as time wore on, all looked to be lost for the 15-year-old.
Then, in the final seconds of play, Motley scored the goal that levelled the match. The resulting extra time could not find a winner, so the tie went to shots. Anthony triumphed 4-2 to book a place in the final.
There he would meet Matt Lishman, who had to overcome a disallowed goal in his tie against Ed Whitehead, before winning 1-0 in extra time on the golden goal rule.
The final was a very energetic, fantastic encounter. Lishman took the lead early in the game and held on for the first half. After the restart, Collins scored a superb goal on the break to balance the scores at 1-1.
The deadlock continued through extra time and into shots. Collins once again proved to be more on target than his counterpart and won 3-1 to claim the under-19 crown.
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