College Football: Derwent 1-1 Vanbrugh

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Photos: Jack Western

Derwent and Vanbrugh played out a score draw in blustery conditions on 22 Acres as Callum Woodall’s controversial Vanbrugh penalty cancelled out Adam Highland’s volleyed opener.

In a match where neither college were able to field a full-strength side, Derwent will feel that they should have sealed the victory after creating chance after chance, only to be thwarted by poor finishing or confident goalkeeping from Calum Lenox.

The game fizzled out towards the end as some farcical officiating clouded what had been a tightly-fought contest, with Vanbrugh’s late equaliser and a series of poor refereeing decisions proving to be the post-match talking points.
The game was characterised by a cagey opening from both teams with several high balls and throw-ins due to the strong winds. After a scrappy first ten minutes, Derwent set the blueprint for the rest of the match, enjoying the lion’s share of possession through Sam Weighall and Tom Shelbourn pulling the strings. Lively striker Jamie Trant also had a penalty appeal waved away.
Derwent were firmly in the ascendancy, with the guile of Ryan Gwinnett and the industry of Trant a constant thorn in Vanbrugh’s side. The breakthrough came when a searching ball from Weighall was met by Highland at the back post, who duly finished with aplomb to make it 1-0. Shelbourn had a header cleared off the line as Derwent went into the interval firmly on top.
Vanbrugh attempted to hit back in the second period but were well-marshalled by Michael Whitall and Alex Metcalf in the absence of captain Dave Belshaw. Joe Lund had a chance when he was sent through on goal, but lacked composure and fired wide.

At the other end, a surging run from Trant saw him play in Ryan Gwinnett one-on-one with the ‘keeper, but his side-footed finish was well-saved. Metcalf volleyed goalwards from the resulting corner, but again Lennox was equal to it.
The referee put his stamp on the game late on, as he bafflingly awarded Vanbrugh a penalty, for a reason which escaped both sets of players. Callum Woodall stepped up and dispatched it confidently into the bottom corner to give Vanbrugh an unlikely equaliser.

Derwent piled forward in search of the winner. Gwinnett came closest when his free-kick hit the inside of the post. Trant and Masashi Nozaki both had good chances late on but were unable to convert them.
Tensions rose as the referee struggled to control the game, with Trant booked for dissent and Liam Craine also carded for a scything challenge on Weighall. Some further dubious offside calls marred the last ten minutes, and the match ended with the scores level.

After the match, Derwent’s Dave Belshaw told Vision: “I can’t believe we didn’t win that, we were the better side throughout. The penalty was inexplicable, we’re very disappointed with the referee, but it was a good penalty from Woodall.”

Vanbrugh captain Max Brewer was in a noticeably upbeat mood following his side’s point, telling Vision: “I’m very pleased with the performance. It was a dubious goal, but we earned that today. The last few weeks we’ve been under a lot of stress. We haven’t been able to field a full strength side all term. To draw against Derwent is a decent result.”