Wentworth 1sts produced one of the shocks of the tournament, beating Derwent 1sts 3-1 in a day of surprises, which has left group 1 wide open. Derwent went into the game with a perfect record, where as Wentworth had yet to taste victory, so the end result defied all predictions. Three brilliant goals, coupled with determined defending helped Wentworth to overcome their opponents, for whom the defeat is a dent to their cup bid.
The early stages displayed no meaningful signs of the shock that was to come, as Derwent largely dominated, controlling possession and creating the early chances. Andy Jeffreys nodded a Tom Brandreth long throw over the bar, and both Alex D’Albertanson and Sam Earle had efforts towards goal.
However against the run of play, Wentworth opened the scoring. Dan Bowden capped off an excellent move with a placed finish into the bottom corner, after a fine surging run and cutback by Lachlan Murray. The goal was the first that Derwent had conceded in the tournament, and worse was yet to come.
Derwent though restored order soon after, and began to once more dictate play with Sam Earle heavily involved. His midfield partner Jacob Tapper then made a strong challenge to win possession, before feeding through captain David Kirk, who calmly stroked home the equaliser.
Derwent threatened to take control of the game, playing pleasing football on the eye, and moving the ball positively. However Wentworth were resolute, with full backs Nick Townson and Ben Keane particularly impressing.
The crowd was then treated to one of the goals of the tournament, as on the counter Wentworth once more took the lead. Wayne Paes played a pinpoint 40 yard ball, splitting the Derwent defence, which was controlled exquisitely by Lachlan Murray, who proceeded to drill his shot home past Seb Treasure.
The advantage was then doubled, as poor Derwent defending allowed Dan Bowden to seize on a long ball, and hook home a left footed shot, to leave Derwent reeling 3-1 down at half time.
Derwent tried to up the tempo in the second half, as they searched for a way to fight back into the game, but Wentworth keeper Colin Hill had other ideas. He denied D’Albertanson after a good move, and in general commanded his area. At the other end Wentworth remained dangerous going forward, and almost scored from a corner when the industrious Dom Green had an attempt blocked on the line.
The game was getting stretched, as Derwent pushed men forward in search of a goal which would give them hope. However this left space for Wentworth to exploit, and Tom Redhead rifled an effort wide, as their threat was once more apparent.
Tom Brandreth almost pulled a goal back though from a corner, only to be denied by Ben Keane who hacked his phenomenal header off the line. Colin Hill then made arguably the save of the tournament to date, at full stretch getting a strong hand to a fizzing Kirk strike, to somehow preserve his side’s two goal lead. As Kirk thundered his drive, the whole crowd though it was in, but Hill spectacularly came to the postgraduate college’s rescue.
Derwent kept up the pressure, but there was no way past Hill and his strong backline, as Wentworth put in a vastly improved display, which makes you wonder how they had previously succumbed to seemingly weaker opposition. The time ticked by, and as the final whistle was sounded, Wentworth could celebrate a memorable victory.
Their skipper, Wayne Paes told Vision: “It was a great performance. Hopefully now we’re back on track as we are getting used to playing with one another. We still have a chance of qualifying for the plate competition and our focus will be on that”.
Derwent captain, David Kirk was understandably disappointed and commented: “We weren’t at our best; I’m disappointed that we made uncharacteristic mistakes today”.
Vision MOTM: Dan Bowden