Match Report: Two Steps Beyond

Broadfields United 2-4 Uxbridge

Cup finals are usually tense matches with few goals and chances, and can often end up quite turgid affairs—not so on this occasion, as Uxbridge and Broadfields United served up a six-goal thriller with plenty of incident and no little entertainment. With two divisions between the sides and Broadfields having lost their Combined Counties play-off final on Saturday, you would have been forgiven for expecting a comfortable evening for The Reds, but they were made to work hard all evening by the side from Harrow. The two sides have won all of the previous six editions of this trophy, so are well used to lifting this famous old cup.

With a strong line-up, Uxbridge signaled their intent early. In the 9th minute, George Moore was inches away from an opener when his shot, following a Cole Brown cross, cannoned off the outside of the post. The Reds were seeing plenty of the ball and the pressure eventually told in the 16th minute; Troy Perz-Duah broke down the right flank and delivered a precise low cross that Josh Boorn turned home to give the visitors a 1-0 lead—Boorn’s third goal in three games.

However, any thoughts of a comfortable evening were unfounded as Broadfields refused to back down and levelled the scores in the 30th minute. A well-worked team goal involving some crisp, clinical passing saw a low cross from out wide on the right finished clinically by Jabir Laraba. The visitors were denied by the woodwork again in the 36th minute when another well-timed Boorn run saw him get through the defence; he expertly lobbed Finn Rushton in the Broadfields goal, only to see the ball strike the base of the post. However, Uxbridge restored their lead just before the break. A Harry Rush corner caused chaos in the box; after CJ Fearn’s header was cleared to Moore, he smashed the ball goalwards. Despite Rushton's best efforts, the officials adjudged the ball—correctly—to have crossed the line, sending Uxbridge into the interval 2-1 up.

HT 2-1

The second half began at a frantic pace. Just three minutes after the restart, Broadfields equalised again—defying any belief that the goal just before half-time would have deflated them. This time a free kick was met by Abdirahman Sharif Mohamed, who ghosted in at the back post to head home. Parity lasted only two minutes. In the 50th minute, George Moore turned provider, slipping a through ball to Jo Lawal, who raced clear of the defence and coolly slotted past Rushton to make it 3-2.

The match took a decisive turn shortly after when Broadfields’ Rhys Ellis was shown a second yellow card for retaliation, leaving the hosts to play out the final half-hour with ten men—and a real uphill task. Uxbridge began to exert their numerical superiority, with Rushton called upon to keep his side in the game with a flurry of saves, notably parrying a shot from Lawal in the 59th minute, as Uxbridge again worked the ball well into the box. At the other end, Marco Underwood produced a vital save in the 77th minute to deny a long-range effort from Jodi Mumbiny that looked destined for the corner.

Uxbridge finally put the game to bed in the 84th minute. Toby Nnadozie made space just inside the box to fire in a shot that struck the post—the third time the Reds hit the frame of the goal—but George Moore was the quickest to react, bundling the rebound home for his second of the evening. Broadfields nearly set up a grandstand finish in stoppage time, hitting the bar in the 96th minute, but the rebound was ruled offside, and the Reds saw out the match to seal a hard-fought 4-2 victory.

The match brings down the curtain on the 2025/26 season, and is one everyone involved with Uxbridge FC can be rightly proud of—the highest league position the club has ever achieved in the English football pyramid, and a trophy to cap it all off.

See you in August.

FT 4-2

Uxbridge: Underwood, Brown, Martin, Fearn, Cuthbert (Bocarro), Rush (Prior-Tack), Lawal, Perz-Duah (Nnadozie), Okine-Peters (Okorogheye), Moore, Boorn (Keita)