http://www.chelseafc.com/article.asp?hlid=313006 Arsenal Reserves 0 Chelsea Reserves 0 Monday, Oct 03, 2005 A barren evening at Barnet in terms of clear chances saw Chelsea Reserves finish all-square with leaders Arsenal although it took the Gunners’ crossbar and a good second-half save by Lenny Pidgeley to keep the game goalless. Wayne Bridge played another full match. International call-ups at different levels have taken regular reserve performers away from both London clubs leaving the two very youthful teams to run out at Underhill. Wayne Bridge was the exception. The England international left-back was a late addition to the Chelsea side having at the morning’s training session declared himself ready to play his fourth game in the second string since returning. He was involved in the first glimmer of hope for Chelsea when his low cross found Phil Younghusband for a first time shot that was blocked. There had been an earlier escape for Chelsea. Anthony Grant uncharacteristically conceded possession deep in the Chelsea half, the powerful Fabrice Muamba surging forward and finding Arturo Lupoli but under pressure from Pidgeley, the Reserve League South’s top scorer last season shot off target. From a Bridge free-kick on the right midway through the first-half Arsenal had their great escape, right-back Gilbert under pressure from James Younghusband heading against his own crossbar. Those were isolated moments of penalty area incident in an even first- half. As the interval approached, Grant was booked when he lost out to Muamba for a second-time and deliberately handballed to prevent serious damage. Steven Watt was captaining Chelsea from the back in the absence of injured midfielder Danny Hollands and he was part of a defence that performed solidly for most of the evening. Adrian Pettigrew was another notable presence in the centre. But skipper Watt was involved in one moment to forget when he and Phil Younghusband between them contrived to give Lupoli a free run on goal down the pronounced Underhill slope. Lenny Pidgeley did very, very well to charge out, fill the target and save with his knee. Five minutes later it was Phil Younghusband who was given the chance to exploit space behind the opposing backline but despite a slip, centre- back Connolly disposed the Chelsea centre-forward before he could pull the trigger. Dean Smith and Watt completed a total of three bookings for Chelsea. For Arsenal, Muamba was booked for a foul on Grant. It had been a keen battle between the two midfielders throughout. Chelsea made two substitutions on 70 minutes and the game began to open out. Shaun Cummings, a first year scholar was given an early taste of reserve football, coming on to make his debut and he was soon involved. His deep cross found Jonas Elmer at the far-post but the Swiss left-sider couldn’t spring high enough to direct his header down. On another night Elmer might have been a match-winner; two early chances had come his way. In the first-half he was on the end of a cross after an exquisite Phil Younghusband turn but his first touch was wayward and when a Filipe Morais cross found him in the second-half, his volley was blocked. Morais moved to the right wing late on and not without an impact. A swivel of the hips took him past two players and he set up Cummings nicely for a shooting opportunity which was blazed a yard over. That was Chelsea’s clearest opening of the game. It took a late save from Pidgeley to preserve the deserved draw after Lupoli’s head was first to a free-kick. The young Chelsea keeper can be as pleased as anyone with his evening’s work. Chelsea: (4-3-3) Lenny Pidgeley Dean Smith Adrian Pettigrew Steven Watt (capt) Wayne Bridge Filipe Morais Anthony Grant Joe Keenan James Younghusband (Dean Furman 70) Jonas Elmer Phil Younghusband (Shaun Cummings 70) Arsenal: Vito Mannone, Kerrea Gilbert, Mitchell Murphy, Fabrice Muamba, Sean Kelly, Mathew Connolly, Patrick Cregg, Alexandre Song, Nicklas Bendtner, Arturo Lupoli, Anthony Stokes. by Paul Mason -- Carefree, wherever we may be 　 We are the famous CFC！ --

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