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Photos: Jack Western
Vanbrugh 1sts made it two wins out of two in the group stages of the College Cup on Monday afternoon. They convincingly won against Goodricke’s 3rds with a score of 4 – 0. Though this was a match that Vanbrugh 1sts were expected to win easily, they seemed to be comfortable with playing the ball around and were in no urgent rush to score as many as they could. It was clear from the start that Vanbrugh were going to see most of the possession, with Goodricke never seeming to be comfortable on the ball. It was a while before Vanbrugh really created a decent chance though; a header from Elliot Ross seemingly straight at Goodricke keeper Alex Wooley. Harry O’Brian, already showing himself to be a dangerous presence in midfield, broke the deadlock midway through the first half, with a brilliant goal showcasing his standout long-range shooting ability. He began near the half-way line on the left of the field, lost possession, fought to win it back and weaved his way through Goodricke’s midfield. He then passed it to Ross, who tapped it back to him outside the box where O’Brian fired a low shot into the right-hand corner.
The first goal appeared to liven up proceedings as Goodricke tried to pressurise their opponents. But Vanbrugh, now with the breakthrough, stepped it up a gear, pushing forward to take a firm grip on the game before halftime. Ross curled in a shot that was just shy of the top right corner and Liam Sides managed to get in behind the defence as Goodricke scrambled the ball clear before he could get a shot and away. O’Brian provided an inch perfect cross into the box, though Sides didn’t seem to expect it and headed over. It seemed for all Vanbrugh’s possession that Goodricke were going to go into halftime trailing by only a goal. However, fortune struck as an O’Brian shot was parried by keeper Wooley straight into the path of Ross, who pounced with a striker’s finish to double his side’s lead before halftime.
Vanbrugh seemed content with keeping the ball at the beginning of the second half, dominating possession without creating many chances. They soon began to press through with some wayward shots from Lund and Gout and some more impressive efforts from O’Brain, hitting the crossbar with one and another a whisker over. To deal with the onslaught of attacks, Goodricke seemed to resort to the tactic of ‘if in doubt, kick it over the fence’ on many occasions. They couldn’t keep them out for much longer, however, when a foul by Johnson on Sides in the area gave Vanbrugh a penalty, with Ross stepping up to score his second goal and Vanbrugh’s third. A resounding win was wrapped up in style after a mistake at the back by Karbani allowed Sides to race into the box. The defender caught up, however, to stop him from shooting, but the ball fell to Gout on the edge of the box who drilled it into the left-hand corner of the goal.
Vanbrugh Captain Max Brewer said; “We scored some very nice goals today. I thought in the first half we weren’t quite up to scratch in midfield, but we were always solid at the back. Second half was much better, they didn’t really look like scoring. Two games, six points, zero goals conceded, can’t ask for more than that.”
Goodricke 3rds captain Western reported; “They’ve got a player who can shoot from literally anywhere and he’s contributed to three of the four goals, shooting from further out than most of us can even reach the goal, and then it was a silly penalty that was given away at the end. We’ve matched them for the majority of that game and we are unlucky to lose 4-0. There’s a lot of positives to take.”