A Pan-tastic performance

Pan Community FC 5 v Northwood Reserves 2

Pan secured the first leg of a possible treble, winning the Ken Morris Junior A Cup 5-2 against a strong Northwood Reserves side under floodlights at Beatrice Avenue on Wednesday.

Ref Steve Raybould called both sides together to observe a minute’s silence in memory of Whitecroft & Barton’s Rod McCarthy, a vice-president of the Isle of Wight Football Association, who passed away on Sunday.

Once play got underway, both sides had early chances, with Northwood keeper, Lewis Murray, pulling off a series of saves from the start. Ref Raybould clamped down on foul play, booking Pan’s Sam Shepherd for a dangerous tackle in the first 10 minutes.

Northwood took the lead after 17 minutes, when Oscar Grant scored from close range; this spurred Pan into the attack and Sam Williams levelled the match, knocking a cross home in the six-yard box.

Pan’s Lenny Duncan came close with a free kick from 20 yards, and, as the first half was almost over, Ross Lacey coolly finished a well-worked move to give Pan a 2-1 lead at the break, with Northwood frustrated to concede so late on.

Fifteen minutes into the second half, Pan’s Josh Gwilliam crossed from the right wing for Ash Gulliver to climb above the Northwood defence to head home from 10 yards, and Pan was leading 3-1. Mark Taylor then hit the post for Pan, shortly before the sinbinning of Ash Gulliver, reducing Pan to 10 players.

Northwood took advantage of their extra player when Ollie Cousins scored, with 20 minutes left, and the match looked hanging in the balance at 3-2. Pan manager, John Sivier, brought on Alex Hatton for Kaylum Case, with Pan centre forward, Mark Taylor, calmly finishing off a well-crafted move from inside the box with less than 10 minutes left, taking the score to 4-2.

Pan brought on Sean Gwilliam in the dying moments of the game, and he was involved in the move that saw Pan’s Mark Taylor score the goal of the game, volleying home from 20 yards with a minute to go. Soon Pan were celebrating a famous 5-2 victory, with a possible League and Hampshire Vase treble ahead.

Manager John Sivier said: “We’ve worked really hard this season, and the players have achieved so much. We hope this is the first of several trophies – with next week’s matches in the Hampshire League and Hants Cup now our focus.”