Today’s eagerly-anticipated all-Vanbrugh tie in College Cup’s Group A ended with a predictable result as Vanbrugh 1sts showed their class against a battling 4ths side. With Vanbrugh 4ths making their debut in the competition, this was always seen as a game that they were unlikely to get anything out of, and their 1st team opposition made sure of that in emphatic style, securing the biggest scoreline of the tournament so far.
Vanbrugh 1sts captain Phil Taylor was employed in a deeper position than usual and was his contribution was vital, scoring 4 of his sides’ goals. After the opening stages which saw the 4ths side keep their opponents at bay, Phil Taylor opened the scoring with a looping header over Andrew Derlien following another of Jon Gill’s now infamous long throw-in’s. Gill himself added a second goal just minutes later, receiving the ball from Keiran O’Dwyer On the left-hand side to fire under the goalkeeper’s body and double the 1sts lead.
It would be easy not to mention the 4ths team at all in article regarding a crushing loss, but they did show moments of promise. Ben Huckle, operating as a lone striker, ran himself into the ground, but to no avail under the tight marking of Ziggy Heath and Ben Lowe, whilst the 4th captain, James Bugg and fellow midfielders Will Cooper and Andy Dakin dropped deeper to track Phil Taylor and hence struggled to provide support, but their constant battling kept the scoreline even lower than it could be, and they will face worse sides than their own 1st team in this competition.
As the half dragged on, the 4ths came under more pressure by the minute, and Ben Keane conceded a penalty for a sliding challenge on Taylor. What would have been a good tackle on grass was penalised on the JLD. Taylor dusted himself down and sent the penalty into the corner of the net before Ziggy Heath added a fourth at the end of the half, applying the finishing touch after a low corner found its way to the back post.
The second-half continued much like the first. With Taylor searching for the goal to complete his hattrick, it was again only a matter of time before the 1sts broke the second –half deadlock as Jamie Clarke hit the pick of the goals with a shot from the left wing flying past Derlien and into the net, before 1sts captain Taylor completed his hattrick, rounding his marker before slotting low across the goalkeeper, and there was still time for two more goals from the 1sts. O’Dwyer added the seventh with a simple finish from Tom Spring’s cross, before Taylor completed a magnificent performance with another simple finish from another wonderful Spring cross. Taylor also had two efforts cleared off the line in the closing stages by Mike Sutcliffe and Keane.
Whilst the result was disappointing, Vanbrugh 4ths can take heart from how their defence managed to keep the opposition at bay in the opening 10 minutes of each half, and in the first half, they even managed to hit the woodwork through Kimmy Tang-Wright, in addition to a number of efforts on goal that didn’t bother ‘keeper James Wilson too much.
Phil Taylor, captain of Vanbrugh 1sts was obviously pleased his individual performance as well as that of his side, explaining that they, “needed a good performance after getting beaten off James and especially with the Halifax 2s result today. Regardless of the scoreline, the performance was really professional and solid so we can push on from here.”
Man of the Match: Whilst many would give it to Phil Taylor for his four goal haul, the captain chose instead to nominate Kieran O’Dwyer who had a hand in a number of his sides goals, as well as steady the ship against a 4ths side who attempted to pack the midfield and was justly rewarded late on with a well taken goal.