James and Derwent were the Man City and Chelsea of the Revolution Premier League this term. They were one step ahead of the competition and battled it out for the title in a very exciting season of college football.
Both teams got off to good starts in their first games of the season, with Derwent enjoying the luxury of a walkover against Wentworth, whilst James managed to beat a strong Vanbrugh side 2-1 in their opening game.
They continued their flying starts in their second games, with James cruising past Goodricke 2-0 whilst Derwent proved too much for Halifax in their 4-2 thriller.
Both teams then managed to make it nine points out of a possible nine in their third games, with Derwent smashing Goodricke 4-1 whilst James wiped the floor with Hes East outfit Langwith in their 5-1 victory.
The two sides then made it four wins on the bounce when James destroyed Wentworth 5-0 and Derwent nicked a 3-2 victory over rivals Langwith.
With both teams playing so well it looked like it would take a miracle to separate the two teams. This miracle eventually came when Alcuin put in their performance of the season to come back from 1-0 down to defeat James 4-2. Derwent then took advantage of James’ defeat to go three points clear at the top of the table by beating Vanbrugh 4-2.
James had the opportunity to get back on level points with Derwent as long as they could defeat last year’s College Cup runners-up in the Revolution Premier League’s El Clasico (Derwent vs James). Despite James taking the lead they couldn’t achieve their task and Derwent managed to come out of the game with a 2-2 draw and their three point lead still intact.
James knew that they could still steal the title on the last day of the season if they beat Halifax and Derwent lost to Alcuin. James did their part by beating Halifax 5-2, but Derwent’s 4-1 win earlier on over Alcuin meant that James’ efforts were in vain, and there was to be no Aguero-like last minute drama on the closing day of the league.
Derwent went unbeaten all season to win the league, a great accomplishment, and with such a strong team it won’t be a surprise if they’re challenging for the College Cup again in the summer term. James were still impressive throughout the season and if they didn’t let their lead slip against Alcuin they would’ve had a good shot at the title. Maybe they will learn from their mistakes to win next season and put an end to the recent Derwent dominance of College Football.