College Cup: Monday Week 6

Vanbrugh 1sts 6 – 1 Langwith 2nds

Vanbrugh 1sts continued from their exploits over Halifax 1sts on Friday, this time cruising to a 6-1 victory over a Langwith 2nds side that were reduced to eight men.

Langwith began the match as underdogs, as well as a numerical disadvantage; with only 10 players in their lineup, operating with a 4-4-1 system, the afternoon did not look good for Matt Wilcox’ men.

Ali Prince put Vanbrugh 1sts ahead in the opening ten minutes, latching onto a half volley and firing beyond Tom Lambert. It soon became 2-0 as Phil Taylor had his first of the afternoon with a tap-in. His second which followed moments after, was much more eye-catching, controlling the ball from 30 yards, and the striker delivered a cracker into the top corner, with Lambert left simply helpless.

Langwith refused to let Vanbrugh run away with the game, and when Bruce Starkey sent a through ball via a throw-in to Matt Derry, who hit first time across Paul Taylor, they had a lifeline at 3-1. However, Langwith’s luck was to take a turn for the worse. Phil Taylor managed to bag a first half hat-trick, then Derry, in an attempt to re-enact his first goal, pulled up injured, and Langwith, at half-time, with no substitutes, were down to nine men.

The yellows had become accustomed to playing without a full lineup, but continued to work Vanbrugh into the second half. First, Lambert played a long ball downfield, Starkey latched on, and with his back to goal manoeuvred his body, before shooting just over. Then, another ball was fed through into Starkey, but proved less convincing on his weakened right foot.

Vanbrugh then punished Langwith, with winger Liam Regan adding to his goalscoring account by taking on the Langwith defence and placing into the corner. Then, to round Vanbrugh’s delight up, Regan set up centre-back Dan Radford, who hit a blistering strike against the post, and in. Late on, Duncan Sills was to be Langwith’s second casualty of the day, as Langwith were to finish the game with only eight men.

Overall,a very good few days for Vanbrugh 1sts who will have confidence in progressing from the quarter-finals in two weeks time, and look destined for top spot in the group.

Halifax 1sts 2-0 James 2nds

In today’s second game, Halifax 1sts were made to work for their quarter-final berth by James 2nds, as winger Jack Beadle was forced to inspire his nervy outfit to a 2-0 win.

With the pressure on Mark Lund’s men to recover from their 3-0 drubbing to Vanbrugh 1sts, Halifax, for large stages, lacked their normal, fluid play on Monday. Sam Clitheroe was in excellent form for James 2nds, and refused to make this match straightforward for Halifax. Conor Brennan had the first real chance for Halifax in the opening quarter, but failed to connect with any conviction to his through ball. Five minutes later, Bedale shot low on goal to Clitheroe’s right, but the keeper superbly denied the winger with his fingertips.

After the interval, Halifax continued to crank up the pressure, but where they proved a threat, James were able to contain. Even when Conor Brennan, with suspicion of offside, broke the James backline, and was free on goal, Clitheroe proved the nemisis once again. It appeared the whites would be reduced to long shots, as Ash Daly turned from playmaker to hitter, but Halifax could only get a corner.

But the resistance eventually told twenty minutes from time. Right-winger Joe Brennan set up his left-winger, Beadle from a corner, he struck from the edge of the box, and Clitheroe was eventually beaten. What appeared to be Halifax’s gain, looked James’ loss, who now looked on the verge of going out of the competition.

In the last fifteen minutes, Halifax managed to double their lead, as well as Beadle’s tally, as Lund’s shot came off Beadle and into the net, with James’ shouts of offside proving to be their last call of hope in their progression from the competition. Halifax will be hoping their defeat to Vanbrugh was just a blip, and they can now go on to inflict further damage in the competition.