Traditionally cup semi-finals are tense, tight affairs and this was no exception. The glue pot of a pitch made good football almost impossible and it was a day when the result had to be ground out. Hard fought does not do it justice but the harder the battles, it seems the greater the resolve of this resilient Ruislip outfit. The keeper was back to his best, the three man defence rock solid, the midfield trio combative, the wide men a constant outlet and the front two tireless in their work. Infuriatingly, however, Ruislip continued their recently found habit of starting slowly. Very few punches were thrown by the home side in the first half and this allowed Totteridge to settle nicely into the contest and had Harry Sandiford not made two exceptional saves they would have gone into the break deservedly in front. All Ruislip had to show in a half of not very much was two good chances missed by Remi Ogunbayo and Lennox Kedman, although Ryan Morgan was unlucky to see his glancing header flash just wide of the upright from Luke Massingham’s near post corner. The second half needed to be different and different it was. Challenges were sharper, the running harder and the intent greater. Kedman came close with a cross shot and Finn Edwards was twice denied by the admirable Totteridge keeper. Another fine save kept out Morgan’s powerful effort but the flow of play was now all one way with Kedman, Edwards, Morgan, Omari Reynolds and the indefatigable Charlie Coshall all prominent. But still the scoreline remained blank and did so until there were just 13 minutes of normal time remaining. Clever work by Mark Webb forced a corner. This time, Massingham’s delivery was deeper, Ben Higgins’ run was perfectly timed, the leap prodigious and the connection with his forehead perfect. The very definition of unstoppable. Now was the time to dig in as the away side sought to send the tie into extra time. Tackles were won and blocks were made to ensure that the Ruislip back door remained shut and in truth Sandiford, such an important first half figure, had little to trouble him. As it was it was Ruislip who came closest to scoring again with Ogunbayo desperately close with two excellent late efforts but a second goal wasn’t required as the referee brought proceedings to a close not long after. The good thing is that Ruislip, know they can play much better than this…they’ll probably have to in the final! MoM could’ve gone to any of the defensive unit. Harry Sandiford, Lewis Crowley and Luke Massingham all played their played their part to the full but because he also got a brilliant match winner, Ben Higgins, a beast in both boxes, shades it.
