[visiongallery set=72157627836746363]
Photos: Ruth Gibson
Sunday morning saw New Zealand just manage to hold off France at an arms length to secure a tight victory in the Rugby World Cup final. Now, that was in Auckland in front of thousands of people, and it was rugby, but there were certain parallels visible between this momentous occasion and the way that Goodricke ground out their 1-0 win over a promising Langwith side on 22 acres a couple of hours later.
The match, as Goodricke’s Matt Thomas said, was a ‘standard first game’. Scrappy and hard-fought with obvious signs of rustiness. Goodricke had the best of the opening exchanges and the pace of striker Jon Sharpe was a constant thorn in the side of the perennial underdogs. He created the first real chance of the game as he jinked past two Langwith defenders into the area before his low ball across the face of goal was cleared behind by Sam Morley.
From the resulting corner though, Goodricke went one up, as Sam Astbury slammed home emphatically on the half volley to give his side the lead.
Sharpe was almost given a chance to double his side’s lead when Sam Lewis whipped in a dangerous low cross towards him but ‘keeper Kris Cheshire managed to gather the ball just in time. The Goodricke striker then troubled Langwith once again as he paced towards goal a fed the impressive Joe Mann, who was unable to control the ball on his chest. The chance fell to Lewis who volleyed the loose ball over the crossbar.
Langwith had been reduced to long shots up until midway through the first period, with Andy Hutt firing a few efforts close to the mark, but once they managed to settle themselves into the game they started to create some chances.
A long throw from Matt Jones was launched into the area but Kieran Hazell could only get the most glancing of headers on the ball and it was cleared off the line.
A good period of Langwith pressure followed and Hutt once again struck over after a Jones corner, but just as they were beginning to look the more likely side, their opponents were gifted a diamond opportunity to double the scoring.
A quick-fire attack resulted in Sheridan bringing down Jon Sharpe in the penalty area, and the referee rightly pointed to the spot. Sam Lewis stepped up but his spot kick was expertly saved by Cheshire to his right and Langwith escaped, keeping the scores at 1-0 going into the break.
Much like in the first half, Goodricke started the second period in the ascendancy. The combination of Lewis, Mann and Sharpe looked particularly threatening but the Langwith defence mostly dealt with the danger well.
A chipped ball from Lewis over the top found Sharpe, who in turn picked out Joe Mann, but his shot was well saved by Cheshire. Gutteridge and Holbrook then had chances at either end and the game begun to become stretched.
Goodricke’s superior fitness was now beginning to tell. Sharpe made a pacey break down the left but was thwarted by an excellent challenge from Bruce Starkey and Mann, Lewis and Sharp once again combined to create a chance for Nelson which he wasted.
The same Goodricke trio all had further chances to double Goodricke’s lead whilst Langwith’s Hutt and Donovan also had efforts at the other end but neither side was able to grab that all important goal. The game came to a frenzied finish with the scores still at 1-0.
‘I felt like we had to grind it out’, said Goodricke’s Matt Thomas after the game, ‘everyone was slightly rusty’.
Despite the loss, Langwith captain Andy Hutt was quite upbeat after the final whistle. ‘It was a really positive start to the season’, he said, ‘the freshers settled in well and we were more organised and like a team than I expected for the first game’.
Vision MOTM: Jon Sharpe