Forest School under-14s are into the semi-finals of the Essex Cup

Pupils progress in county cup

Forest School under-14s progressed to the semi-finals of the Essex Cup with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Havering’s Brittons Academy.

Forest controlled the first half and took the lead from a neat finish by Amar Takhar after good work from Chris Coveney.

The advantage was doubled when George Bartlam converted from the spot after he had been fouled.

In the second half, the Snaresbrook-based school scored again as Amar Takhar reacted quickest to a Bartlam shot that was parried by the goalkeeper.

The last 20 minutes were far from comfortable as Brittons bombarded the Forest goal and a scrappy effort gave them hope and then an excellent header made it 3-2 with minutes to go.

But Forest held on with Sam Telling, Henry Ochieng and Ed Zurawski excellent at the back.

Forest’s victories along the way to this stage include a 6-2 home win over Saffron Walden School, and a 6-1 win at Jo Richardson School. The semi-finals will be played by March 2.

Meanwhile, the school’s first team took part in an experimental match with MK Dons’ academy side last week.

Playing on a 60x40 pitch they lost out 4-3 but were 3-1 up after goals from Luke Holland (two) and Daniel Adasonla.