A last minute Darren Bent stunner gave Town the victory in an excellent FA Youth Cup semi-final first leg that ended 4-3. Bent hit a looping shot over Arsenal keeper Holloway just as it seemed that the Gunners had saved the draw.
It had been Arsenal who had started the stronger and their possession told when in the seventh minute a cross from Israel was hit home by Aliadiere with the Town defence hesitant. The Gunners had already come close through Pennant, but Kelly made the first of several good saves.
It wasn’t long before Town hit back through Darren Bent. The striker latched on to a bad backpass, went inside a defender and hit a shot into the corner of the net beyond the keeper.
The half ebbed and flowed with Arsenal probably having the best of the chances. Both sides had periods of pressure and Town went close through Ambrose and Westlake. Pennant was a constant thorn in the Town side, but he was tending to try to do too much himself when perhaps the odd pass might have helped his side more.
Arsenal went ahead on 38 minutes when Aliadiere scored his second. The Arsenal man hit a shot from the edge of the box when Town’s defence backed away. Just before half-time Pennant hit a shot wide when cutting in from the left.
The second half started with a bang and within ten minutes Town were ahead. First just two minutes in Darren Ambrose hit a brilliant volley on the turn from the edge of the area which beat Holloway. Then only six minutes later he had another effort well saved by the keeper, but he was not to be kept down. A corner from the left was knocked back out to Bonwick who hit in a low cross which Ambrose slotted home. Town were 3-2 up and looking in control.
In the 58th minute Darren Bent made a good run down the left, but his cross was put out for a corner. The Snowdon put a shot over the bar when he really should have done better after a neat interchange with Bent.
At the other end Pennant missed the target when it was probably easier to score after the Town defence had failed to clear on several occasions. Aliadiere had a shot well saved by Kelly in the 71st minute and then Pennant was also stopped by the keeper who was having an excellent night. A minute later Will Snowdon made a good tackle as Arsenal piled on a bit of pressure.
This paid off in the 89th minute when Aliadiere completed his hat-trick. A good run from sub Itonga saw him put in a cross and the French striker tapped the ball home. The Arsenal youngsters tried to put the pressure on and came close to a winner when Bonwick took the ball off the foot of Aliadiere when he was bearing down on goal.
The large Town contingent, possibly even out-numbering the Arsenal fans, were just settling for the draw when Bent picked up the ball and hit a terrific shot from 25-yards which dipped under the bar and into the net. It was a finish worthy of the game and the whistle went a few minutes later. One sour note was the reaction to defeat by the Arsenal youngsters many of whom refused to shake hands with the Town players. They left the pitch as quickly as they could while the Town players stayed on the pitch to celebrate with the fans.
An excellent game with chances at both ends and too much attacking detail to go into here. The game could have gone either way and the second leg at Portman Road will be a tight, tense and exciting affair. If it is anything like tonight I can hardly wait.
Apologies if there are any errors in the player details the lack of an informative teamsheet and audible PA were a great handicap.