Academy Under 18s Thread
Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2026 10:43 am
Going forward I will post Under 18s match reports/news onto this thread for those who are interested, rather than making a separate thread for each fixture.
Bracknell Town Under 18s 2-2 Hampton & Richmond Borough Under 18s
Bottom Meadow, Sandhurst Memorial Ground
Friday, 27th February 2026, 19:45 Kick-off
Isthmian Youth League, West Division
Pre-Match/Overview
Having finished work in Staines at 5pm on this Friday afternoon I made my way over to Feltham Road, Ashford, to pick up the first team's matchday programmes for Saturday’s fixture against Eastbourne Borough. Tommy Rance met Casey Jones in Sunbury then kindly drove to the printers in Ashford to pick me up, on Chattern Road, and we made our way along the M3 and into Sandhurst. I wouldn't easily have been able to take the train and walk with the big box of programmes, so I was very grateful for the lift. In terms of Under 18s news, striker Tyler Andrew-Flower had represented Spelthorne Sports' first team on Tuesday night, appearing from the bench in a narrow 5-4 defeat for the Sports at Colliers Wood United. One of our Under 19s players, Endijs Sinakaus, joined Andrew-Flower on the bench and also made an appearance for Myles Hook’s Spelthorne side.
The well-informed Tommy advised me that tonight's showdown between Bracknell Town and Hampton was not the first game to be played at Bottom Meadow today: Aldershot Town's Under 19s had hosted Woking during the afternoon, in a National League Youth Alliance Division F fixture, which Woking won 2-1 courtesy of a penalty kick in the sixth minute of stoppage time (there would be another late goal from a set piece on the ground tonight…) Anyway, having parked in a nearby car park we made our way to the turnstiles, only to be informed that the car park closes at 10pm on the dot! Tommy moved to another nearby car park at half time, just to be on the safe side. Jack Pinsent was also in attendance and the four of us conducted a walkaround of the ground. The perimeter fence, all of the seating and much of the infrastructure is painted black, which makes the ground very dark, especially at night with trees lining two sides of the pitch. Another obvious feature of the ground is the huge dugouts, around 15 seats in a single row in each dugout, more than enough for Hampton this evening, with only Steve Bates, Anthony Weir and five substitutes in the technical area. Joe Wells, son of former Hampton centre-back Dean, was on the bench for the hosts.
First Half
Hampton wore their all-royal blue away kit, with Lucius Russel between the sticks wearing the all-yellow 2024/25 kit (Movember sponsor), as Hampton shot towards the southern end of the ground, furthest from the turnstiles. Robin Moseley had joined us to make five travelling Beavers fans in our group. Our hosts wore red and black striped shirts, black shorts and black socks. Their goalkeeper, Lyall Kennedy, wore a fluorescent green top with black shorts and black socks. Captained by Ruben Verzuu, Bracknell Town enjoyed most of the possession in the early exchanges, although a half chance was presented to Hampton following a late tackle by home forward, Rohineesh Sandhu. Joel Doherty ran along the right and whipped the ball in towards Kai Cooper, but he couldn’t connect properly with it. It started to rain lightly in the 11th minute of the game, so we made our way from the open standing on the western (dugout) side of the ground, past several young Bracknell Town supporters behind the goal, to the covered terracing along the eastern stand. To their credit Bracknell’s youth had turned up in good number and displayed a large banner in support of their team.
Hampton had lined up in a familiar 4-2-3-1 formation. In front of Lucius Russel was a back four of Stan Smith (left); George Starr (left centre); Benjamin Egberts (right centre); and Seve Cushing (right). In front of them a defensive midfield duo of Tom Maddigan (left) and Ibrahim Nawaz (right); then an attacking midfield three of Kai Cooper (left); Devan Ghedia (centre) and skipper Joel Doherty (right); with Monday’s goal-scorer Judah Ogbaji leading the line in place of Tyler Andrew-Flower. The bench was warmed by keeper Jacob Atherton, Georgian midfielder Tim Salaghishvili, defender Zak Kubinskyy and new boy Jack Potter. Bracknell continued to have the better of the first half, with their striker Alfie Forgan receiving the ball in a prime shooting position inside the 18-yard box, but pushing his shot to the right of the goal and towards the tunnel (how he failed to hit the target, I don’t know). Bracknell’s artificial surface was one of the best I’ve seen, well maintained with no black dust rising after every challenge. The hosts were clearly very comfortable playing the ball around on it. Hampton slowly grew into the half though, and in the 25th minute Devan Ghedia did well to create something from nothing, winning the ball in midfield and playing it into the box towards Judah Ogbaji, who found himself surrounded and couldn’t get his shot away.
On the half hour mark Bracknell’s Harvey Nash was given enough space to take a stinging shot from 20-yards, but he sent it wide. Defender Benjamin Egberts went into referee Lee Murphy’s book in the 34th minute for a robust challenge just outside the area. Hampton opted for a four-man wall but Bracknell’s Harvey Nash blasted the free kick under the wall and into the bottom-left corner of the goal, Lucius Russel being unsighted by the wall and unable to reach the ball in time. Both Nash and Bracknell’s lively left-back, Tyreece Geurcelin, had been standing over the ball and I initially thought the latter had taken the kick, but I am assured it was Nash. Bracknell finished the half passing well and looking decidedly comfortable on the ball, pressing high and seeming to make Hampton panic a bit. Bracknell’s skipper, Ruben Verzuu, was yellow carded for a shirt tug on Kai Cooper in the 42nd minute. Hampton had a good chance to equalise just before the interval when Stan Smith surged forward 15 yards into the Bracknell half, playing an intelligent ball to Kai Cooper on the left, who could have shot but chose to cut inside and play Judah Ogbaji in, but he slipped and mis-kicked. One final bit of action before half time as Bracknell’s left back, Tyreece Geurcelin, went into the book for dissent. The whistle finally blew at 20:37 (the match had kicked off a bit late, there wasn’t much stoppage time at all).
Second Half
No half time substitutions for the Beavers, but some tactical changes as Tom Maddigan moved forward into the attacking three, switching with Devan Ghedia who dropped back; meanwhile Joel Doherty moved into the centre of the three. Bracknell Town’s Rohineesh Sandhu hit the crossbar in the first minute of the half, before I had even taken my place on the terraces! Hampton had a bit more purpose about them. In the 48th minute Tom Maddigan pushed forward through the centre of the pitch, playing a one-two with Kai Cooper and taking a shot which was parried away by Lyall Kennedy. In the 52nd minute Ibrahim Nawaz played a ball out towards the right when Stan Smith appeared to be in a good position on the left, nevertheless Joel Doherty claimed possession and his endeavours won a corner for Hampton. The delivery was good but Judah Ogbaji’s header was straight into Lyall Kennedy’s arms. Next Stan Smith whipped a cross in from the left and Joel Doherty connected with a glancing header, just wide of the post. The small travelling Hampton contingent sensed an equaliser and urged their team on.
In the 55th minute Tim Salaghishvili replaced Tom Maddigan in the centre of the midfield three, playing the “10” role, and he soon had an impact, picking out Joel Doherty who timed his run well as the flag stayed down, Doherty launched a shot from the edge of the box, diagonal across goal, it just whizzed past the post and out for a corner. Moments later there was a bit of panic for Hampton as Lucius Russel’s kick went straight to a Bracknell player, but the defence dealt with it. Bracknell’s Tyreece Geurcelin, always willing to offer an opinion and already on a yellow card, was given a talking to for arguing about a free kick decision. From the free kick Seve Cushing charged along the right and played in a cross which was deflected but safely into the keeper’s hands. Devan Ghedia demonstrated his strength in the 70th minute, muscling off several robust challenges before delivering a decent ball into the box. Tommy Rance reminded me to conduct a headcount, quite challenging with all of the infrastructure painted black and no light other than the floodlights, but I arrived at a figure of 49.
Some further substitutions for both sides slowed the game down a bit between the 71st and 75th minutes. Zak Kubinskyy replaced Ibrahim Nawaz and Jack Potter replaced Joel Doherty for the Beavers; with Bracknell also making a change. All hope of salvaging something from the game seemed to be lost in the 77th minute. Jude Hew blasted the ball into the top left corner of the Hampton goal after the Beavers were caught in possession. In the 81st minute Oliver Newell made an important clearance off the line to deny Judah Ogbaji, who took a shot from distance with Lyall Kennedy stranded, it was a brilliant piece of defending from Newell, who saw the danger and positioned himself accordingly to protect the goal. Humorously the referee indicated a goal kick in the 82nd minute, for something which was an obvious corner, but neither set of players noticed and just lined up for the corner accordingly, with the officials adjusting their call to reflect the play. Hampton finally got onto the scoresheet in the 83rd minute, centre back Benjamin Egberts found himself in bags of space in the area after a quick throw from Seve Cushing, the ball was played into him, he took a touch and half-volleyed the ball home. There was a strong challenge on Seve Cushing in the 90th minute, which contributed to the three additional minutes that were added. Zak Kubinskyy won a free kick just outside the penalty area in the final additional minute. Up stepped Tim Salaghishvili, his pre-match prayers (the Georgian always crosses himself as he enters the field of play) were answered, as he executed a textbook free kick over the wall and into the left corner of the goal to equalise with just seconds remaining. “Now go on and win it!” barked the unsatisfied Steve Bates from the Hampton technical area, which got a laugh from our travelling contingent, with barely 10 seconds to go!
Notes
One of the officials tonight, Anna Evans, wore a yellow armband which I am told indicates an official who is under the age of 18. She and the other officials generally had a good evening’s work, managing the game well, although there were no real controversies. One of Bracknell Town’s coaches, Martin, kindly obtained the home team sheet for me after the game to help with the report.
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Bracknell Town 2
Nash 34’
Hew 77’
HRBFC 2
Egberts 83’
Salaghishvili 90’+3
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Bracknell Town: 1 Lyall Kennedy, 2 Oliver Newell, 3 Tyreece Geurcelin, 4 Jude Hew, 5 Ruben Verzuu (Cpt), 6 Ryan Batt, 7 Naynarn Gozton, 8 Dan Parry, 9 Alfie Forgan, 10 Rohineesh Sandhu, 11 Harvey Nash
Subs: 12 Owen Tye (on for Nash, 87'), 14 Joe Wells, 15 Jasper-Dean Musabi (on for Forgan, 75'), 16 Jack Gregson (on for Gozton, 57'), 17 Adam Magnusson
Hampton & Richmond Borough: 1 Lucius Russel, 2 Seve Cushing, 3 Stan Smith, 4 George Starr, 5 Benjamin Egberts, 6 Tom Maddigan, 9 Judah Ogbaji, 10 Joel Doherty (Cpt), 14 Kai Cooper, 15 Devan Ghedia, 18 Ibrahim Nawaz
Subs: 12 Zak Kubinskyy (on for Nawaz, 71'), 13 Jacob Atherton, 16 Danny Beck-Nardoni, 17 Tim Salaghishvili (on for Maddigan, 55'), 30 Jack Potter (on for Doherty, 75')
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Referee: Lee Murphy
Assistant 1: Anna Evans
Assistant 2: Eroll Barett
Attendance: 49
Yellow Cards: Tyreece Geurcelin 45’ (Bracknell Town); Benjamin Egberts 34’ (HRBFC)
Red Cards: None