Under-14s see off South Woodford in semi-final

Manor Youth under-14s emerged victorious in their Passmore Edwards Cup semi final against South Woodford in Hainault, with a late strike from Taheer Mahmood proving decisive.

The Newham youngsters started the game well, creating multiple chances against a South Woodward side that looked content to sit back.

However Manor were wasteful in the first half with Shafiiq Shipkoylee coming closest with a long range strike forcing a good save from the South Woodford keeper.

Despite making several changes at the interval, it was more of the same in regards to Manor’s wastefulness in the second half.

However an injury forced them to alter their tactical set-up to a 3-5-2 system and the breakthrough came soon after.

Nurul Islam beat several defenders before switching the ball to the left side to Yusuf Raheem and he left the ball for Taheer Mahmood to hit a 25-yard drive into the roof of the net to book their spot in their third final in three months.

Man of the match Danny McGuinness looked to ensure his team-mates guard against complacency in the final, saying: “We now need to focus in training, work hard and prepare ourselves for the big occasion.”

Manor manager Hafiz Ahmed echoed those sentiments, adding: “Hopefully we can get all the work done in training and end the season on a high with this cup win.

“Ccredit to South Woodford and their defence, they did exceptionally well to stop us from scoring.”

Manor Youth will play against Salaam Peace United of Waltham Forest in the final at Wanstead Flats as they look to secure their third piece of silverware this season. A date and time is yet to be confirmed by the organisers.

Manor: Ivan Pecha, Abaan Patel, Mahin Rahman, Danny McGuiness, Shane McGuiness, Aswad Muhammed, Shafiiq Shipkoylee, Ifaz Khan, Hamza Yunus, Rafi Hussain, Nashwaan Rashidi, Taher Mahmood, Mohammed Abdi Yusuf-Raheem, Mohammed Naim, Shueb Rahman, Nurul Islam, Juned Ahmed, Akram Miah.