College Cup: Goodricke 1sts 5-2 James 2nds

James 2nds collapsed after the interval with Goodricke turning a 1-2 deficit into a thumping win to ensure they proceed to the quarter finals at the expense of their opponents.

Goodricke scored four goals in an extraordinarily one-sided second half after a closely-fought first half-hour.

Goodricke’s Jon Sharpe sparked the match into life early on when he hit the side netting with a low drive, after some exquisite touches and passing from Andrew Yates in the heart of James’ midfield capped an intriguing opening.

Moments later, goalkeeper Andy Kirkwood produced a stunning save as he just managed to divert Luke Parker’s header over. Disappointingly for him, though, the stop counted for nothing as, from the resulting corner, defender Stu Dunk hooked an audacious volley into the back of the net.

However, James 2nds equalised within a minute as a solo effort from Freddie Ferrao ended in an agonisingly cruel goal for Goodricke to concede; the ball took an age to cross the line after Ferrao slotted past Foster.

And James’ second goal was similarly awful for Goodricke; Ferrao, who was proving to be a handful for the defence, was fed a quality low ball from Briars. A mix up between goalkeeper Ed Foster and centre back Matt Thomas resulted in the ball trickling, yet again, over the goal line.

At half time it was all to play for, but almost immediately after the restart a Sam Lewis free kick that nestled into the top corner foreshadowed Goodricke’s second half dominance.

Christian Hammer fell dramatically moments later inside the penalty area resulting in a spot kick and Joe Mann did the rest, making the score 3-2.

And Mann did it again somewhat luckily as a cross from the far left hand side found its way past Kirkwood in the James goal, before Parker crept in at the far post ten minutes later with a header to seal a victory that looks rather good on paper.

Talking after the match, Goodricke’s Matt Thomas labelled the second half “the best I’ve seen us play,” while James captain Yates was understandably “disappointed” with the result.