Under 18s 3-2 Badshot Lea

[TW2-Beaver]

Hampton & Richmond Borough U18s 3-2 Badshot Lea U18s
Isthmian Youth League, West Division
Monday, 12th January 2026

Hampton & Richmond Borough 3
McGreevy 24’
Doherty 29'
Cooper 45'

Badshot Lea 2
Wareham 4'
Jordan 81'

Build-up/Pre-match
Tommy Rance picked me up at the corner of Bridge Way and Short Way in Whitton at 6.50pm, before heading along the A316 to Sunbury Cross where Casey Jones joined us. We eagerly discussed the busy week of football ahead (well, busy for the hardcore Hampton supporter anyway). After tonight's Under 18s game, the first team play in a friendly at Bedfont Sports tomorrow night (13th January); then on Wednesday (14th January) the Under 19s (National League) side visit Hemel Hempstead Town in the afternoon before the Under 18s visit Northwood in the Isthmian Youth League Cup, Quarter Final, in the evening. On Friday (16th January) the Under 19s (Youth Development) side visit Sutton Colleges at Cheam Sports Club. Naturally, Tommy Rance is going to all of these fixtures!

An unexpected traffic jam saw us remain stationary on Hatton Road/Cains Lane for five minutes before we arrived into Bedfont's uneven and bumpy car park at 19.22. Nobody was charging admission so we strolled into the ground wallets in pocket and were soon joined by another Beavers fan, Jack Pinsett. Hampton's Steve Bates was busy setting up the VEO camera while a small crowd was gathering outside Bedfont Sports’ clubhouse, mainly relatives and friends of the players (being a regular attendee this season I can now recognise some of them, Tim Salaghishvili's father was present, as was Jack Griffin’s family). The clubhouse was open serving drinks but there was no food outlet tonight. It was a mild evening compared with recent days, some light drizzle had subsided before kick-off and it was a pleasant night in TW14, interrupted briefly by some fireworks erupting shortly before kick off from the park just south of the ground - occasion unknown!

First Half
Badshot Lea - sporting white tops, maroon shorts and white socks - kicked off and shot towards the south-west/Hatton Road allotments end of the ground. Hampton wore their red shirts, red shorts and navy socks; Lucius Russel in goal wore all-fluorescent green; as the Beavers kicked towards the north-east/Bedfont FC end. Hampton lined up in their familiar 4-2-3-1 formation, with a defensive four of Stan Smith (left), Ibrahim (left centre), Jack Griffin (right centre) and Seve Cushing (right); in front of them were Tom Maddigan (left) and Archie McKenna (right), with an attacking midfield trio of Kai Cooper (left), Joel Doherty (centre) and Finn McGreevy (right) playing behind front man Tyler Andrew-Flower.

During the opening exchanges, the visitors won a corner in the second minute but a powerful header lacked accuracy. It didn't take long for Badshot Lea to take the lead though. In the fourth minute a cross from Ben Jordan was met by Reece Wareham who crouched low and connected well to head into the bottom right corner. It was a bit of a surprise: the visitors had won just once in their opening six league fixtures! Moments after the restart Hampton’s Archie McKenna, who has been on loan at Spelthorne Sports’ senior side, attempted a dipped curling effort from the 18-yard line, but it was superbly tipped over the crossbar by keeper Jonas Cody. Finn McGreevy, who has been gaining experience with Egham Town's senior team, was enjoying some charges down the right, physically he appeared the strongest player on the pitch and used his strength to good effect all evening. The attacks were few and far between for Hampton though as Badshot Lea pressured the Hampton defence on several occasions and enjoyed the majority of possession. Jack Griffin made an important tackle to prevent a goal-scoring opportunity, after Joel Doherty had been dispossessed in midfield. “Joel, Archie, stay with the runner” barked Steve Bates from the technical area as he attempted to organise his squad. Alongside Steve in the busy Hampton dugout were coaches Martyn Hyde, Anthony Weir, Johnny Doherty and Adam Smith. “Seve, this way; Jack, you’re following the ball!” continued Bates in the background. In the 13th minute Finn McGreevy turned around his marker and slid the ball perfectly into the six-yard area for Joel Doherty, who somehow contrived to lob the ball over the crossbar when it looked easier to score!

Lucius Russel made a good save from a long-range shot around the 15th minute, the resulting corner was headed just wide by Badshot Lea’s Ben Jordan. There was another opportunity for the visitors to double their lead when their striker, Reece Wareham, stole the ball from Joel Doherty, but Russel blocked the shot; Doherty recovered and chested the rebound away. It had been a nervy opening twenty minutes for the Beavers, Badshot Lea were creating chances and their #9, Reece Wareham, seemed happy to drop back into midfield and play off Callum Barrie to the right and Jack Fowler to the left, making the visiting attack difficult to track. During a break in play, I conducted a headcount of the crowd, making it 36 in attendance this evening. One of McGreevy’s runs forward led to Kai Cooper being played in, but the offside flag had been raised against Joel Doherty.

In the 24th minute it was the lively Finn McGreevy who levelled things for Hampton, with a powerful strike from just inside the area. It nearly all went wrong for Hampton in the moments following McGreevy’s strike: Steve Bates had summoned the team over to the technical area just after the goal, but with Badshot Lea lined up and ready to kick-off and all Hampton players in their own half, the referee whistled for the restart and Hampton’s players scrambled back into position! As the first half wore on Hampton created more chances and they were rewarded in the 29th minute when Captain Joel Doherty headed into the net from close range, following a Kai Cooper cross, to put Hampton’s noses in front. 2-1 to the Beavers. Badshot Lea struck the crossbar in the 31st minute with a Ben Jordan header. The visitors then made their first substitution in the 34th minute when Oscar Luna-Nogue replaced John Fowler. Hampton’s centre-back pairing of Jack Griffin and Ibrahim certainly seemed two of the busier players on the pitch and were in frequent communication with the technical area. In the 37th minute McGreevy’s industrious efforts down the right won a corner and a welcome break for Hampton, who appeared in no rush to take the kick. On the stroke of half time, Kai Cooper held the ball up, turned inside the area and curled the ball into the bottom left corner to put Hampton 3-1 up at the interval, a somewhat flattering scoreline. Tommy Rance informs me the goal was just in the 45th minute (he timed it as 44 minutes and 58 seconds!).

Second Half
During the interval Hampton’s substitutes warmed up on the pitch, among them goalkeeper Jacob Atherton, Tim Salaghishvili, Isaac-Adrian Farquharson, and Danny Beck-Nardoni. Badshot Lea made two changes in the centre of midfield at the break, while Hampton remained unchanged. Around five minutes into the half Tyler Andrew-Flower connected with a through-ball and slotted it calmly into the far corner… but unfortunately the linesman’s flag had already gone up. In the 54th minute Reece Wareham really should have pulled one back for the visitors, he received the ball in the area but was unable to dig it out from under his feet, as desperate challenges flew in around him from Hampton’s defenders, with the final shot going wide. Hampton then made a change: Tim Salaghishvili replaced Tyler Andrew-Flower, the instructions were for Finn McGreevy to replace Andrew-Flower as the front man, with Salaghishvili taking McGreevy’s position on the right of midfield.

In all honesty most of the second half was a fairly dull affair, for the bulk of the contest neither side could find any rhythm and it began to resemble a training match. Finn McGreevy, in his new forward role, appeared to be ticked off by the management team for positioning himself too high up the pitch. Ibrahim found Joel Doherty who played a good ball through to Kai Cooper, running in from the left, but his effort was parried away from the line. Next, a rare sight: a change of goalkeeper as Jacob Atherton replaced Lucius Russel. The replacement keeper’s first job was to retrieve a weak shot from Badshot Lea’s James Hennessey, who himself had just been substituted on. Further changes were made in the 74th minute as goal-scorers Kai Cooper and Joel Doherty were replaced by Rio Lamb and Danny Beck-Nardoni respectively, after which point Seve Cushing moved up from right-back to right midfield, with Beck-Nardoni taking on the #10 role. Hampton had a great chance to put the game beyond doubt in the 79th minute. Archie McKenna was felled, but the referee waved advantage with Danny Beck-Nardoni in a good position. Unfortunately, he took one touch too many, the clearance went straight to Tim Salaghishvili, but he couldn’t stop it rebounding back into Jonas Cody’s grateful hands.

Although dull, the second half wasn’t without a little bit of drama, Badshot Lea’s Ben Jordan made sure of that in the 81st minute when his looping header beat Atherton to bring the scoreline to 3-2 and make a contest out of the closing 10 minutes or so. There were some nervy moments but Hampton held on, a high foot on Atherton in the penalty area buying some much-needed respite for the Beavers in the 88th minute. A Badshot Lea free kick in the fourth and final minute of stoppage time turned out to be the last action of the night, the kick from 20 yards out smashed into the Hampton wall before being hoofed clear by Tim Salaghishvili. To everyone’s relief the final whistle went and Hampton had secured nine points from their opening four league fixtures. Focus turns to the League Cup now as the lads visit Northwood in the Quarter Final on Wednesday evening, 7.45pm kick-off at Northwood FC’s Chestnut Avenue ground.

Line-ups
Hampton & Richmond Borough: 1 Lucius Russel, 2 Seve Cushing, 3 Stan Smith, 4 Jack Griffin, 5 Ibrahim, 6 Tom Maddigan, 7 Kai Cooper, 8 Archie McKenna, 9 Tyler Andrew-Flower, 10 Joel Doherty (c), 11 Finn McGreevy
Subs: 12 Rio Lamb (on for Cooper, 74'), 13 Jacob Atherton (on for Russel, 70'), 14 Tim Salaghishvili (on for Andrew-Flower, 56'), 15 Danny Beck-Nardoni (on for Doherty, 74'), Isaac-Adrian Farquharson

Badshot Lea: 1 Jonas Cody, 2 Kit Littlefield, 3 Blaise Gethin-Smith, 4 Fred Jamieson (c), 5 Cameron Underwood, 6 Nazar Fomenko, 7 Callum Barrie, 8 Albert-George Stewart, 9 Reece Wareham, 10 Ben Jordan, 11 Jack Fowler
Subs: 12 Leo McCabe (on for Barrie, 66'), 14 Beau Oliphant (on for Fomenko, 46'), 15 Caleb Paulsen (on for Stewart, 46'), 16 Oscar Luna-Nogue (on for Fowler, 34’), 17 James Hennessey (on for Littlefield, 70')

Other Info
Referee: Josh Mugridge
Assistant 1: Jake Pringle
Assistant 2: Paul Mitchell
Attendance: 36
Yellow Cards: Jack Griffin 62’ (HRBFC)
Red Cards: None

Fixtures & Results:
https://fulltime.thefa.com/displayTeam. ... =534620258

League Table:
https://fulltime.thefa.com/table.html?l ... _134126264