The third round of college cup got underway, as a fortuitous late winner courtesy of a deflection from a Johnny Grout shot, gave Vanbrugh 3rds their third consecutive victory.
It has been a brilliant start to this year’s campaign for the side, leaving them with a great chance of progressing beyond the group stages, and in the process, they condemned Alcuin to a third defeat.
Vanbrugh started brightly, having the first chance of the match, as Callum Priest rapidly swivelled at the edge of the area before blasting a shot high over the bar.
After a scrappy ensuing few minutes, Alcuin’s Luca Nazzicone fired a free-kick high over the bar.
Soon after Grout came close for Vanbrugh, his free-kick a whisker away from connecting with the cross-bar. Priest then had two further opportunities; he smashed his first effort over the bar, then was unlucky with his second effort, which took a deflection removing all of the pace from the ball.
Soon after, Kallum Taylor’s fingertips just prevented the onrushing Alcuin players from connecting with a Nazzicone corner. Around 25 minutes in, the best chance of the half fell to Vanbrugh’s Seb Knight. Taylor failed to gather a loose ball which was pounced upon by Priest. He squared it to Knight who had his shot brilliantly blocked by the Alcuin defence.
The teams went in for the half-time break all square; it had been an abrasive contest no side being able to retain possession for a lengthy period. However, Vanbrugh went on to dominate the game in the second period, firmly pegging Alcuin back into their own half.
Firstly, Matt Barlow produced a fantastic save, tipping over Charles Frobisher’s point-blanc header from a Grout free-kick. After this, Seb Knight cannoned a header into the bar from a Tom Fisher corner before Max Poynter-Hall glanced a header wide of the mark from another Grout free-kick.
Finally, with only a few minutes left on the clock, Vanbrugh were finally rewarded for their efforts, a Grout shot taking a double deflection before Barlow slipped at the crucial moment to make it 1-0 to Vanbrugh.
Post match, Alcuin Captain Jon Carney commented that his side had put in a “good defensive performance” not giving Vanbrugh “anything all game”, before admitting his “devastation to lose the game because of a double deflection”. Finally he added, “we had seven players out due to injuries and exams”.
Vanbrugh Captain Mark Lajca said, “It was a tough game. Alcuin parked the bus, but we kept going for sixty minutes and deserved to win.” Vanbrugh 3rds suited and booted team manager Mike Sutcliffe added: “we had the better of the game but couldn’t really break Alcuin down. They deserve credit for their performance”.
Vision MOTM: Johnny Grout
The Vanbrugh 3s manager is not named Chris Sutcliffe. It is Jack Sutcliffe.
Also not Chris Frobisher, Gerald Frobisher…
The manager’s name is MICHAEL Sutcliffe and it was CHARLES Frobisher whose header was saved by the keeper.
Also “Vanbrugh were finally rewarding for their efforts” is not grammatically correct!
Cracking game though!
The well-dressed vanbrugh manager’s name is actually Michael Sutcliffe, but he is known as Mrs Haberdasher at the weekends.