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Photos: Kathy Burke
Derwent 1sts limped towards an unconvincing victory in their first match of the College Cup against a spirited Langwith 2nd side.
David Kirk’s first half strike was all that the tournament favourites could manage against Langwith, who were unlucky not to get something from an excellent second half display.
Derwent’s disappointment with their performance was epitomised after the match when captain Kirk immediately led all his players off the JLD, presumably to tell them better performances are required if the team are to lift this year’s trophy.
The first half was complete Derwent dominance as the black and blue stripes were camped inside Langwith territory.
An early chance fell to left-back Ollie Harrison, who shot over from 18 yards after collecting Alex d’Albertanson’s right wing cross.
Dan Atherton squandered an even better opportunity when he collected Sam Earle’s pass, turned superbly, but rattled the far post with his shot, to the relief of the vocal Langwith supporters.
He made up for it just before half time, however, as his burst down the left wing resulted in a cross which Langwith failed to clear on numerous occasions, allowing Kirk to slam the ball high into the net past Ollie Williams.
Langwith started the second half well, as Jack Donavan’s inswinging corner was headed just wide by the unmarked Will Prescott at the back stick.
The fullbacks Georgio Georgiev and Bruce Starkey were also repelling the forays of the Derwent wingers much better than in the first period.
The team in yellow were also getting a lot of joy from Prescott’s remarkable long throws.
On one occasion, the midfielder launched a monstrous delivery into the box but James McDonald could not generate enough power on his shot to trouble Seb Treasure.
With Langwith remarkably on top by this stage, another opportunity fell to McDonald seconds later as he almost latched on to Sam Rooney’s delicate through ball.
However, Derwent looked dangerous on the counter-attack with the pace of d’Albertanson and Atherton proving to be a thorn in Langwith’s side.
One run by d’Albertanson resulted in a Derwent throw which Tom Brandreth took, the ball clipping the top of the bar with Williamson beaten.
Derwent regained their earlier control to see the game out, as Ollie Harrison dragged a free kick just wide and David Kirk hit the outside of the post in the dying seconds.
After the match, Langwith’s captain Craig Burnell was delighted with his players despite the defeat: “We played brilliantly today. We’re actually feeling a bit disappointed to lose. It was a really good effort by the team – we have shown we can compete with a good first team.”
David Kirk was not too worried by his team’s performance: “We got the win which is most important. Last year we won 1-0 in our first game and went on to reach the final. The defence played well, especially when handling the long throws.”
Vision MOTM: Tom Brandreth