Hello again, ladies and gentlemen. The Counties Championship play-offs have begun, with 16 teams being whittled down to eight after the first round of matches, which you can read about right here if you haven’t yet.
Today, we’ll be going through the Quarter Finals and Semi Finals. By the end, we will know which two teams will be doing battle at Wembley for the right to take home that glittering prize (Simple Minds not included).
PLAY-OFFS QUARTER FINAL DRAW
I’ll open this chapter with a quick look at the play-off bracket so far:
After a couple of gruelling battles, Greater Manchester and South London now face another against each other. Awaiting the victor in the Semi Finals will be either South Yorkshire (the lowest-seeded team left in the competition) or runaway East champions Essex.
Just like Essex, West Yorkshire are attempting to win a County Cup and Counties Championship ‘double’, but they must beat North London to keep the latter half of that dream alive. Staffordshire and Bedfordshire are their potential last-four opponents.
PLAY-OFFS QUARTER FINAL, LEG 1 RESULTS
SOUTH LONDON 6-1 GREATER MANCHESTER
An eagerly-awaited Quarter Final spiralled almost completely out of Greater Manchester’s control in the first half. South London raced out of the blocks and were ahead on 13 minutes, when Patrick Roberts got behind the defence to latch onto Harry Arter’s lofted ball and drive it home.
Mancs goalkeeper Keiren Westwood would have to retrieve the ball from his net twice more over the next nine minutes. His defence was opened up again in the 20th minute by Arter’s through-ball to Michail Antonio, who then squared it for a simple finish from Tammy Abraham. Two minutes later, Wilfried Zaha broke through from the left for 3-0.
Greater Manchester were barely putting up a fight, but just before half-time, they gave South London’s defence its first major test. Danny Simpson threaded a first-time pass into the path of his fellow right-flanker Kieran Trippier, whose shot went in off Rob Elliot’s fingertips to give the visitors some hope.
That hope didn’t last. Shortly after a 52nd-minute clearance from Scott Hogan was intercepted by Jack Cork, South London had moved 4-1 up through a rocket from Abraham. Four minutes afterwards, his brace was matched by Roberts, who buried a byline square pass from Zaha.
Arter secured a remarkable 6-1 lead with a hammer of a shot in the 59th minute, compounding Gary Neville’s misery. Mercifully, South London didn’t score again in the final half-hour, but barring an even more spectacular collapse in Manchester, they would surely be heading for the Semi Finals.
SOUTH YORKSHIRE 1-1 ESSEX
Essex got the first shot on target after six minutes, when James Tomkins’ header was well caught by Joe Wildsmith. Ten minutes later, however, it was South Yorkshire who drew first blood. The visitors at sixes and sevens as former Sheffield United right-back Kyle Naughton squared the ball for former Sheffield United right-back Kyle Walker to score his first goal this season.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin – another ex-Blade – almost cut Essex open again in the 22nd minute, but Daniel Bentley made a simple catch. Failing to double their lead would cost South Yorkshire dear, as disaster struck ten minutes from half-time.
Attempting to send a long throw into the Essex box, Naughton was mortified to see his delivery intercepted by Carl Jenkinson. The erstwhile Arsenal right-back launched the ball upfield to Dwight Gayle, who got behind the remaining home defenders and comfortably beat Wildsmith for 1-1!
That set up a potentially exciting second half, but neither team could make a decisive move. Several excellent saves from Essex number 1 Bentley kept Calvert-Lewin and Jamie Vardy at bay, while Gayle couldn’t follow up his earlier opener at the other end. Two close-matched teams remained level going into the second leg.
WEST YORKSHIRE 3-1 NORTH LONDON
After half an hour, this match was West Yorkshire’s to lose. A series of schoolboy errors from North London ended with home striker Cameron Jerome hammering a 25-yarder into the top corner after 20 minutes. Another mistake seven minutes later saw Tiago Ilori upend WY winger Aaron Lennon in the box, allowing James Milner to convert the subsequent penalty.
A glimmer of hope emerged for Harry Redknapp’s visitors in the 33rd minute. Veteran speed demon Jermain Defoe got between the hosts’ centre-halves Tom Clarke and Andre Wisdom to pick up a killer pass from Mark Noble and pull a goal back.
Two minutes later, Defoe proved too quick for West Yorkshire midfielder Jonny Howson, who was booked for a late trip. Howson didn’t learn, as less than 90 minutes into the second half, he upended Harry Kane in the centre circle for a second yellow.
Despite being down a man, West Yorkshire actually restored their two-goal advantage just after the hour mark. Milner’s initial free-kick delivery from the left was headed away by Noble, but the ex-England midfielder’s follow-up cross was finished by Jerome at the back post.
North London had chances to get back in the tie, but Kane fired just wide in the 67th minute before Alex Iwobi was twice denied by goalkeeper Alex Smithies. Having taken a significant first-leg lead over one of the pre-season favourties, many of the home fans in Leeds were now beginning to believe this was their season.
BEDFORDSHIRE 0-3 STAFFORDSHIRE
Bedfordshire had been the major surprise packages of this season, and their defensive resilience was on show again in the first half. Staffordshire sent plenty of attacks their way, but the likes of striker James Wilson and attacking midfielder Kemar Roofe were consistently frustrated.
That all changed three minutes into the second half, after Wilson was tripped close to goal by Beds right-back Darnell Furlong. Marc Albrighton sent the free-kick into the box from the left flank, and Roofe skilfully chested it down before unleashing an impressive half-volley.
Bedfordshire didn’t quite look so confident after conceding that opener. Their increasing sloppiness proved fateful seven minutes from time, when a rushed clearance from keeper Dean Brill was cut out by Ryan Woods. A cushioned header to Roofe was then passed into the box, where Wilson doubled Staffordshire’s lead.
The Staffies would show their teeth again two minutes later, after Roofe won a free-kick off Kevin Foley. Up stepped left-back Jamie Hanson, whose stunning first-time strike gave the visitors a commanding 3-0 advantage ahead of the return fixture.
PLAY-OFFS QUARTER FINAL, LEG 2 RESULTS
GREATER MANCHESTER 2-1 SOUTH LONDON [South London win 7-3 on aggregate]
Greater Manchester needed to overturn a five-goal deficit if they were to have any chance of winning the Counties Championship – and they needed to start quickly. Danny Welbeck heading in a 10th-minute Trippier cross would’ve been a good start, but under pressure from South London right-back Nathaniel Clyne, he nodded over.
Welbeck did eventually open the scoring for GM – almost half an hour later. South London’s defence lost focus for the first time as a low cross from Tripper bypassed Joe Gomez, allowing Welbeck to finish on the edge of the six-yard box. Incidentally, that was Danny’s 30th goal of the season.
After their sluggish start, Neville’s men badly needed a goal rush in the second half, but that never really came to fruition. Their opponents were too defensively sound to suddenly forget how to play football, and the outcome soon became inevitable.
South London made completely sure of their Semi Final place by levelling the second-leg scores in the 83rd minute. After home defender Phil Jagielka misjudged a flick-on from Antonio, a quick-thinking Roberts burst through to hammer in the fatal blow.
Greater Manchester were out of Championship contention, but they remained determined to exit the competition on a winning note. Four minutes later, Rashford set up Welbeck’s 31st goal of a prolific campaign – a low strike that beat Elliot at his near post and restored some Mancunian pride.
ESSEX 0-0 SOUTH YORKSHIRE [1-1 on aggregate, Essex win 4-2 on aggregate]
The first leg of this Quarter Final was very tight, and the return fixture in Southend-on-Sea wasn’t much different. South Yorkshire had the better of things in the first half, but Calvert-Lewin and Walker were each thwarted by Bentley.
Essex also posed a significant attacking threat in the first half. A 24th-minute strike from midfielder Alex Gilbey was turned behind by Wildsmith, who also caught from Gayle in the 36th.
The standard of finishing gradually got worse over the second half, which descended into a bit of a scrappy affair. South Yorkshire in particular were starting to lose their discipline, with three players – including an unusually-wasteful Vardy – seeing yellow before the final 90 minutes were up.
Extra-time was similarly tense, with neither team seriously threatening the other. South Yorkshire had a couple of bookings in the second half – both for substitute midfielder Ollie Banks, for clumsy challenges on Isaac Hayden and Josh Cullen. Banks’ dismissal in stoppage-time proved academic as, after back-to-back draws, the tie was decided on penalties.
Spot-kicks suited Essex to the ground, as they converted all of their first four penalties. As for South Yorkshire, their third penalty – from Danny L Rose – was saved by Bentley. When the home goalie also denied Harry Maguire just moments later, the ex-Hull defender put his slabhead in his hand as Yorkshire’s Counties Championship dream was dashed.
NORTH LONDON 3-0 WEST YORKSHIRE [North London win 4-3 on aggregate]
West Yorkshire threatened to extend their 3-1 first-leg lead after just seven minutes at the Emirates Stadium. American-born winger Duane Holmes tried a shot from distance, only for North London’s Lawrence Vigouroux to come up with an impressive acrobatic save.
Two minutes after almost falling further behind, North London countered to narrow their aggregate deficit to just one goal. Iwobi exchanged passes with midfielder Ryan Mason before hitting a first-time ball forward to Kane, who rifled a stunning close-range shot past Smithies.
West Yorkshire’s defence continued to crumble late in the first half. In the 42nd minute, Kane’s flick-on was squared by Iwobi to Mason, who lashed it home from just inside the box. Kane then headed in a left-wing Yannick Bolasie cross to ensure that it was North London who had a single-goal advantage at half-time.
The visitors’ first chance to save themselves was a 53rd-minute free-kick from midfielder Fabian Delph, which Vigouroux tipped over his crossbar. The Chilean goalkeeper was also equal to a header from Clayton Donaldson midway through the second half.
Though an injury to Curtis Davies weakened North London’s defence late on, they just held on to reach the Semi Finals. That was thanks partly to another Vigouroux save in injury-time, which stopped Milner from forcing extra-time. West Yorkshire had exited the play-offs, but at least they still had the County Cup Final to fall back on.
STAFFORDSHIRE 1-1 BEDFORDSHIRE [Staffordshire win 4-1 on aggregate]
Trailing 3-0 after their home leg, Bedfordshire really could’ve done with injured stars Keshi Anderson and Daniel Powell coming back for the second game. Instead, their attack was headed by Jonathan Edwards (no, not the triple-jumper) and Calvin Andrew, who played for 12 different Football League clubs during his career.
One of Andrew’s former employers was Port Vale, so it was no surprise he fell right at home in Stoke-on-Trent. After 13 minutes, the journeyman got to a left-wing cross from Edwards and finished at the far post to remind Staffordshire that they still had a little work to do to reach the Semis.
Staffordshire’s response wasn’t immediate. Wilson didn’t threaten Brill in the Beds goal until the 23rd minute. Six minutes later, midfielder Ryan Shotton unleashed a fierce shot(ton) that a nervy Brill spilled, but then retrieved just before it could cross his goal line.
Bedfordshire boss Garry Monk tried to energise his team at half-time by bringing Scotland Under-21s midfielder Ali Coote on for Edwards. Coote had one shot at goal, which missed the target by some distance. It clearly didn’t impress Monk, who substituted Coote after just six minutes to throw Sean Maguire up front instead!
One substitution that did pay off – for Staffordshire – was Jack Harrison. The young winger secured their Semi Final place in the 77th minute with a first-time hit from Wilson’s through-ball. That basically put Beds to bed before they could score the additional two goals they’d needed to at least take this match into extra-time.
PLAY-OFFS SEMI FINAL DRAW
There seems to be no stopping Essex, who’ve carried their clinical league form over into the play-offs. However, they now face their toughest test yet in South London, who will want to avoid more Semi Final pain after falling at the penultimate hurdle in the County Cup. They’ll definitely need to make home advantage count in the first leg.
The other Semi Final sees two divisional champions go toe-to-toe. North London were the kings of the South division and have been tipped by many to go all the way, but West champs Staffordshire have shown that they’re made of stern stuff. A random draw has given North London home advantage in the first leg of this tie.
PLAY-OFFS SEMI FINAL, LEG 1 RESULTS
SOUTH LONDON 1-1 ESSEX
South London and Essex each launched some early attacks on the opposition, but not with much success. Early offside calls were made against home winger Zaha and visiting striker Gayle, who fired wide the game’s first shot on target after seven minutes.
Gayle’s pace was soon starting to cause the SL defence some issues. Centre-back Liam Ridgewell was booked in the 15th minute for mistiming a challenge on the Jamaica international. Meanwhile at the other end, Antonio wasted a couple of openings for the Londoners.
Zaha registered the first shot on target four minutes from half-time, only for Bentley to make a confident catch in the Essex goal. Barely a minute later, Steven Caulker’s trip on Gayle gifted the Essex boys a direct free-kick, from which Pritchard broke the deadlock via a deflection off Arter in the wall.
Caulker’s agony at having contributed to his side falling behind would soon turn into pain of a different kind. Just before half-time, the England one-cap wonder hurt his foot in a firm but fair challenge from Essex forward Benik Afobe. South London boss Alan Pardew wouldn’t take any risks with Caulker at half-time, substituting him for Nathaniel Chalobah.
The pressure gradually rose in the second half, and Pardew would soon have another injury to deal with. Roberts pulled up after exactly an hour, having overexerted himself in a tackle on Pritchard. The youngster was replaced with Jordon Ibe as SL continued to push forward in search of an equaliser.
Gayle and substitute Gary Hooper each sent wide chances to put Essex 2-0 up before their narrow lead was eventually erased six minutes from the end. Pardew’s patience paid off as Ibe sprayed the ball out to Moses Odubajo on the right wing before the subsequent cross was volleyed in by Antonio.
The drama didn’t quite end there, though, as Dominic Iorfa almost restored Essex’s lead in stoppage time. Ibe then came even closer to giving South London a 2-1 advantage, but Bentley’s fingertip save kept the scores level.
NORTH LONDON 4-0 STAFFORDSHIRE
This meeting between two divisional champions was quite competitive to begin with. A fifth-minute free-kick from defender Nathan Smith went too high for Staffordshire, who then had to survive a series of home attacks. Goalkeeper Matthew Jones was most severely tested in the 15th minute by a Defoe cross-shot that he just about pushed behind.
Dean Smith’s Staffies went back on the offensive later in the half. A promising 32nd-minute effort from Wilson rippled the side netting before Woods drove a couple of optimistic strikes over the bar. After Jones made another big save at the other end to shut out Noble, the teams went into the dressing rooms level at 0-0.
Redknapp got his London lads well and truly fired up for the restart. Jones had to push a Sterling effort behind in the first minute before denying right-back Adam Smith in the second. The rebound from the latter save fell to Iwobi, who inexplicably hit the side netting when the goal was gaping.
Then, after 62 minutes, North London player served a far more triffic finish. Iwobi skilfully dribbled past both Shotton and Mike Williamson before passing through to Mason, who powered in the strike that broke Staffordshire’s resistance.
The visitors never recovered. Williamson would’ve ricocheted an Iwobi cross into his own net in the 67th minute had Jones not reacted quickly to push it away. However, luck was not on the goalie’s side 13 minutes later. A desperate far-post diving header from Kane was blocked by Harrison before deflecting in off an unlucky Jones’ back.
There was no luck involved in North London’s third goal. Nathan Smith’s 86th-minute foul on Kane was punished first with a yellow card, and then with a stunning free-kick that midfielder Jonjo Shelvey whipped into the top corner.
A couple of minutes passed before the hosts completed a four-goal rout, with substitute striker Chuba Akpom skirting past a sluggish Williamson to chip Kane’s killer ball into the net. Unless it all went horribly wrong in Stoke-on-Trent four days later, Redknapp’s charges would soon make the short journey across North London to Wembley.
PLAY-OFFS SEMI FINAL, LEG 2 RESULTS
ESSEX 3-2 SOUTH LONDON [after extra-time, Essex win 4-3 on aggregate]
After setting up a late South London equaliser in the first leg, right-winger Odubajo almost put them ahead three minutes into the second. His ambitious 20-yard effort was caught well by Bentley, who then stopped Antonio in the eighth minute.
Essex’s first real opportunities came on 13 minutes, as Gayle’s effort was parried by Elliot before Afobe slid the rebound into the keeper’s hand. Gayle was more composed in front of goal 10 minutes later, taking on Gilbey’s first-time pass before swinging it into the corner with his weaker left foot.
Chris Hughton’s hosts would carry a narrow lead into the half-time interval, but the momentum would soon shift. After four second-half minutes, Antonio whipped a cross into the six-yard box for Abraham, who cushioned it back to Odubajo. A determined attempted interception from Essex defender Charlie Daniels was in vain as Odubajo found the net to equalise.
Essex were now really feeling the heat. In the 69th minute, not long after Pritchard had skimmed the bar, their Championship challenge faced a real existential crisis. Roberts broke through their backline with a brilliantly weighted pass to Abraham, who hammered in a beautiful finish for 2-1.
The Essex boys would restore parity just four minutes later, through one of their Reggae Boyz. It wasn’t Gayle who equalised, but rather Darren Pratley, who hammered home after Gomez’s attempt to clear a Pritchard cross was intercepted. With no more goals following, extra-time followed.
The first extra half saw Pratley try a couple more shots at goal. The former Swansea and Bolton midfielder headed Pritchard’s corner wide on 97 minutes, but another attempt five minutes later did test Elliot at least.
South London desperately pushed forward in the 119th minute, only to be hit with a devastating counter-attack. Essex centre-back Kortney Hause pounced on a heavy touch from Abraham and pumped the ball forward to Hooper, whose cross was then finished by Cullen. The Roots Hall crowd went ballistic as Essex advanced to the Final!
STAFFORDSHIRE 1-1 NORTH LONDON [North London win 5-1 on aggregate]
Unsurprisingly, seeing as they’d lost 4-0 in North London, Staffordshire made the more urgent start to the second leg. 17-year-old Morgan Gibbs-White played a promising pass into the box for Wilson, whose shot was then charged down by John Terry.
In the 18th minute, Wilson teamed up with Roofe to produce an attempt which was brilliantly saved by Vigouroux. The North London keeper wasn’t quite so impressive five minutes later, as Roofe’s header from Shotton’s long throw looped over him and into the net. One down, three to go?
Unfortunately for Staffordshire, they would soon be right back where they’d started. Woods carelessly squandered possession in the 32nd minute, leaving the Staffies exposed to a visiting counter-attack. Within moments, Sterling had whipped in a right-wing cross that Jones horribly palmed into his own goal!
That was devastating as far as Dean Smith was concerned. Though Hanson came close to MMMBopping in a free-kick in the 37th minute, his side remained four goals behind on aggregate at the break. The West champions needed to put in the performance of their lives if they were to have any chance of becoming national kings.
Andre Gray came on for the second half as a last resort. He would have four shots on goal in the penalty area, but all four were saved by Vigouroux, who wasn’t going to let his earlier misstep define his performance.
As time ebbed away, so did Staffordshire’s hopes of winning this Semi Final. They could’ve won the second leg at least in injury-time, but Vigouroux pushed a Gibbs-White shot against the post before Joe Newell volleyed the rebound against said upright. With that double miss, the Staffies’ season ended on a downer, and North London cruised into the Final.
And so we have our two Counties Championship finalists. Either North London or Essex will come away from Wembley with the top prize. Essex might even have the opportunity to claim the ‘double’ when they return there to face West Yorkshire in the County Cup Final!
I’ll be back next Monday with the series finale, where the Counties Championship and County Cup are decided, and the end-of-season awards are handed out. You will not want to miss it.
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