Herts Senior Centenary Trophy First Round London Colney 1 Codicote 2 LONDON Colney crashed out of the Herts Senior Centenary Trophy when they lost at home to current Herts Senior County League leaders Codicote. The Blueboys started brightly with first C

Herts Senior Centenary Trophy First Round

London Colney 1

Codicote 2

LONDON Colney crashed out of the Herts Senior Centenary Trophy when they lost at home to current Herts Senior County League leaders Codicote.

The Blueboys started brightly with first Curran and then Gallagher getting into good positions inside the box while an effort from Paul Danslow struck the bar. Seabrook then put over a brilliant cross but Dave Corran saw his diving header go over the bar.

Somewhat against the run of play, Codicote took the lead when Ryan Soloman played the ball through for Carl Smith. Colney 'keeper Alistair Hill raced off his line but Smith went round him and slotted the ball home. They nearly made it 2-0 but Hill made a magnificent one-handed save to fend off a cracking shot from Richard Griffiths.

Colney had a bit of a let off when Hill was adjudged to have handled outside the box but only received a yellow card and the resulting free kick was blocked. Simmonds then just failed to reach a good cross from Gallagher for Colney.

In the 34th minute, the Blueboys drew level when Seabrook played the ball wide to Gallagher who beat two defenders before pulling the ball back for Seabrook to drill home from just outside the box. Five minutes later, Josh Humbert shot just wide after good work by Dan Slow.

Early in the second half, Gallagher got the ball in his own territory and raced forward. Danslow was unmarked in plenty of space but Gallagher's run was eventually blocked by the Codicote defence. For Codicote, Griffiths' glancing header went just wide, then a long-range shot from Carl Smith was saved well down low by Hill. The Blueboys had a quick break which saw Gallagher play the ball to Danslow but his shot flew just over the bar. A McCafferty free kick found Danslow in the box but his header was saved and then a Shaw free kick nearly found Barker inside the box.

Codicote made it 2-1 in the 75th minute when Carl Smith made a good run down the right and put in a low cross which Griffiths bundled in to score.

The Blueboys should have forced extra time with first Shaw and Barker setting up Gallagher but his shot was blocked and then Davey following up saw his effort saved. Barker then had a shot saved and another go over the bar while Danslow had a close-range effort blocked. When the final whistle went Codicote celebrated wildly but they deserved their well-earned victory.

London Colney: Hill, Benning, McCafferty, Paradise, Dickie, Humbert, Seabrook (Shaw), Simmonds (Barker), Danslow, Corran (Cain Davey). Sub not use: Beschizza.

l Away to Harpenden Town Reserves, Colney Reserves picked up three points with a 3-1 victory. The goals came from Sam Mitchell, Sebastian Thomas and Jermaine Davey.

London Colney Reserves: Soulard, Murphy (M. Corran), Smithson, Townsend, Gorrell (Jaravaza), Rawley, Butcher, Mitchell, Thomas, J. Davey, Harkness (Ryan).

l London Colney A Team ran out comfortable 3-0 winners against Sporting KFA with first-half goals from right back Richard Williams and midfielder Yasin Boodhoo with a quality 20-yard strike. Hard-working Tom 'Champagne' Henshall scored the third goal, capping a fine team performance.