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Photos: Jack Western
The stage was set for a Vanbrugh rout. Solid wins in their last two encounters against Wentworth and Alcuin should have meant that even without talented marksman Elliot Ross, they’d be too good for a Langwith side that shipped fourteen goals in their last two matches, and were pointless in 18 months. Langwith must have missed the memo, with goals from Matt Morton and Tom Pickersgill inside twenty minutes giving them great belief. In spite of Vanbrugh’s possession, they failed to break Langwith down, resulting in striker Jack Parsonson and the elusive Morton compounding their misery with a goal apiece in the second half.
From the moment the match kicked off, Langwith were intent upon not giving Vanbrugh a moment’s rest. Louis Pegg in particular harried the opposition with relentless determination. Safe in the knowledge that Langwith are typically goal-shy, Vanbrugh were content to absorb pressure and choose their moments. A scuffed clearance from a corner by Ahmed Abubaker fell to Matt Potts on the edge of Langwith’s area, but the powerful striker’s curling effort was seen wide of the post by Kris Cheshire. Moments later the ponderous defending that would proceed to typify Vanbrugh’s morning allowed right winger Kieran Hazell to sneak the ball away from Clemens Blasius, but his snapshot was held comfortably at the near post by stand-in keeper Max Brewer.
On fourteen minutes, Langwith were rewarded for their strong start. Matt Morton eluded the attentions of his marker at a corner and fired a low volley into the net from the middle of the area. Five minutes after Morton’s opener, centre-back Tom Pickersgill provided them with an even rarer ship-steadying second, leaving the spectators in disbelief. A misdirected glance off a Vanbrugh defender found Pickersgill on his own in front of goal, and he was delighted to see his speculative header loop over the grasping glove of Brewer and into the far corner of the net.
Vanbrugh pressed to get a goal back as the match headed towards half time, and the terrier-like Tom Benney twice had to nick the ball off the toes of Lund as the right-winger looked certain to score. In the second half, captain Marcus Campbell found himself constantly dropping into midfield to complete a three in front of the back four that Vanbrugh couldn’t break down. Nine minutes into the half a quick counter-attack found Tom Benney whipping the ball across the box, and Jack Parsonson was on hand to control a volley past Max Brewer and make it 3-0.
It began to look like the game was petering out even though there was half an hour to go, and the final nail in the coffin came from Matt Morton, who benefitted from Louis Pegg’s persistence in driving a low shot in following a blocked set-piece. Brewer spilt at the feet of Morton, who gleefully grabbed his second of the game to secure a deservedly triumphant Langwith’s first points of the season.
Langwith captain Marcus Campbell: “We didn’t win a single match last year, and suffered some upsetting defeats. Considering they [Vanbrugh] probably had more possession, I’m so proud of the lads for putting so much work in to get the win and the clean sheet.”
Vanbrugh captain Max Brewer: “That was an awful performance. We were too complacent and got a deserved battering. We barely tested Kris Cheshire, and need to do a lot of defensive work.”
VISION MOTM: Louis Pegg – tireless running in midfield for Langwith
LANGWITH (4-2-3-1): Cheshire, Abubaker (Rogers 50), Pickersgill, Jones, Benney, Hazell, Pegg, Hemingway, Morton, Campbell, Parsonson
VANBRUGH (4-4-1-1): Brewer, Wignall, Blasius, Graham, Coy, Lund, Picknell, Grout, Crane, Watkins, Potts