Wednesday 30th March 2022 ko 20:00

Barnet Sunday League Richard Martin Memorial Cup Group B

NORTH LONDON ATHLETIC 1 ( Inyama 30)

BROTHERHOOD COSSIE 1 ( Ierotheou 75p)

Att 34 at A.I.M. North London

Entry Free

As a groundhopper there’s two things that really make me prick up my ears. The first is any new-to-me floodlit game midweek I can get to, and the second is anything that feels like a one-off. As you can imagine a floodlit Sunday League game played on a Wednesday at a one-off floodlit ground had me making a beeline to Enfield!

The AIM North London Academy is to be found tucked away in Turin Road, in Enfield’s suburbs. It would be straightforward to lose myself in what the AIM Academy is, and why but for the purposes of why I and two other hoppers were there it’s a sixth form college, and our interest was in its caged 3G pitch behind. Yes, I am aware there are no end of these things dotted around the country! It was of course a classic case of a club hiring a pitch to get a game played midweek.

North London Athletic are usually based at another school, the Ashmole Academy in Southgate but dfo come with the distinction of being sponsored by former Sheffield Wednesday striker Fernando Forestieri! Brotherhood Cossie have a Cypriot background and the “Cossie” suffix is a tribute to their former player Cos Michael who died in 2019

It was cold, some of the lights didn’t work and the referee turned up ten minutes after the scheduled kick off time. The game saw unbeaten sides from the 2nd and 3rd divisions of a league strong enough to regularly supply clubs that make the latter stages of the FA Sunday Cup. Both were unbeaten coming into this game and the tension was obvious. Yes, that tension did spill over on a couple of occasions and a stronger referee could and probably should have issued a sprinkling of red cards.  

The game went, at least in terms of possession Athletic’s way and I’m sure they’ll wonder how on earth they failed to win after Jelani Inyama’s well-taken strike. But a rare breakaway saw a Brotherhood forward hauled down and Chris Ierotheou did the rest from the penalty spot. But a point apiece was the result, and in truth I was happy enough it was a group game, it was getting rather late for extra time!