North London Tara are through to the last 16 of The Middlesex Junior Cup following an extra-time victory over AFC Charlton Heston. 2 goals from birthday boy Dec O'Mahoney and an own goal following a strong run from Darren Quigley saw the boys in blue win by 3 goals to 2.

This match was a real war of attrition. With a changed side and a naughty wind our first half performance was shit and I was on your case early; Charlton refused to cave in as the game wore on and they tried to ground us down with long throws and set-pieces. It worked for them twice but you were not about to let them back into it a third time and for that you deserve credit. Despite not playing to your potential you won and got us into the hat for the next round, extending our mini-run to 4 games undefeated and setting us up nicely for a couple of pretty big games against The Stag and Sals over the next 2 weeks.

With the sort of form JP has been in his absence was obviously a big blow but Paul and Tim were missing also and I had little option but to continue to ask Noel to line-up in defence alongside Gav, Dan and Sean. Once again I think we were very sound on that score. Despite arguing constantly Noel and Gav proved a strong partnership, Sean continues to improve and Dan was a revelation attacking from left-back –although he will claim he was just trying to get out of earshot of me. I'm going to ignore the first half because that's what the majority of our front 6 did, although I will say that I was very happy with Stephen and Kieran once again. The Beast was box to box in its truest form, winning one penalty, harshly denied another and all while carrying Dec at the same time. Steve worked very hard in a difficult role, showing glimpses of his fantastic skills and suffering from a distinct lack of support. To be fair Dublin Darren and Sean did make some inroads on the flanks, Dal setting up KK brilliantly to win the pen, which Dec tucked away with aplomb despite not really knowing where he was or why he was there.

In the second half and extra-time you were much more like the team I know and love, playing with passion and determination, attacking at will. We got much closer to Stephen after the break as Larry got on the ball and showed his class –his best showing this season by far. I lost track of the number of chances we created before the contest was over –the game itself drew many parallels with our 2-2 draw with NLO last season where we should have scored 10 but with Charlton playing percentages they were always still in with a shout. Darren remained an outlet and put a good ball in which Sean would have tucked away if the defender had not but with a couple of minutes to go another long throw saw us concede again and force the game into extra-time. It's rare that one team bosses extra-time so comprehensively but you managed it comfortably and when Larry stepped up with a magnificent pass Dec took it on his chest brilliantly and tap it past the keeper to win the game. Pat, Darren and Dec could all have added some gloss to the score-line while Stephen crashed one spectacular effort off the bar, thus denying him the goal his performance deserved.