Islington & Camden’s District team

A TOP squad of super-talented footballers will be looking to end their 2024 fixtures on a high when they face Waltham Forest next weekend.

Islington & Camden’s District team go into the big match at their home pitch in Hurst Avenue, Hornsey, off the back of mixed fortunes.

The Under-14s side recently put on a five-star showing against rivals Lewisham in the Inner-London County SFA Rangers Cup.

Ziane Imansouren opened the scoring in style when he unleashed a perfectly-placed shot into the top corner from the edge of the box.

The second goal was even sweeter as Max Reilly doubled Islington & Camden’s lead with a moment of brilliance, delivering a beautifully curled free-kick around the Lewisham wall and into the bottom corner.

However, moments later, Reilly was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons when he handled in the box to gift Lewisham a lifeline. Goalkeeper Callum Bow made a heroic initial save, but the rebound fell kindly to the penalty taker, who converted to make it 2-1 at the break.

Stirred by conceding a goal, the Islington & Camden players stepped their game up another level in the second half. Imansouren soon netted his second of the match, while Nahom Fitsum and Segun Amosu were also on target in a pulsating 5-1 victory.

“Every player showed unmatched determination, and the teamwork and positive communication on display was fantastic,” said manager Michael MacNeill after the match. “It was such a complete team performance that choosing a single man-of-the-match felt impossible.”

It was a result that was offset by Islington & Camden’s outing in the London Schools’ FA Sun Shield, where they were beaten 5-2 by Thurrock District at Orsett Heath Academy in Essex.

Despite starting the match well and putting in a decent performance throughout, the tie was all-but-settled by a three-minute spell in the first half which saw Thurrock rapidly score three unanswered goals.

There were plenty of positives for the visitors to take from the game, including eye-catching strikes from Liam Hamann-Chanes and JJ Darko-Obiri.

“The scoreline didn’t reflect the performance as we actually played good football pretty much throughout,” said MacNeill. “However, the deciding factor was that they were more clinical in the final third setting up and taking their chances, where as we couldn’t quite find that final pass or finish to make our possession count.

“We also only had 11 players on the day, after several withdrawals, so we couldn’t make any substitutions. The players have worked incredibly hard and we are actually very proud of the performance.”