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Alcuin battled to a dramatic 1-1 draw against arch rivals Goodricke to ensure their place in the vase while Goodricke finish last in the group and go out.
The match started with Alcuin in control, with the majority of the possession. They quickly went on the attack although they were not able to convert this into any seriously concrete chances in the early stages, a spectacular, but rather speculative long range shot from Fraser Page being the best of then.
Alcuin dominated affairs in the 1st half with keeper Michael Thurloway having very little to do during the whole of the half. However Alcuin were unable to convert this possession into any goals. George Brough struck a screamer but keeper George Rogers had the situation well under control. Brough was a constant danger, constantly harrying and chasing the ball but he was unable to get good enough service to score. He had a great chance when he got on the end of a long ball but he was unable to bring it under control quickly enough to put it past Rogers.
Alcuin continued to press and Alex Nixon had a great chance after a free for all in the penalty area, but the ball was deflected out. Goodricke’s best chance came at the end of the half with a Kostas Avramidis free kick being hit straight at the wall. The half finished with a Ben Bugeja free kick which looked as it was going out but was deceptively curved by the wind at the last moment to go only minutely wide.
The second half was not surprisingly considerably more exciting and dramatic than the first. Alcuin came out on the attack with a Brough shot split by Rogers who was at least able to recover before any damage was done. Goodricke however came out with renewed vigour in the second half and were not going to go down without a fight. The match became a much more competitive affair. Goodricke were on the offensive with Jack Fuller hustling the ball out of Thurloway’s hands, however he didn’t have enough time and space to bring the ball under control.
The pendulum swing either way with the play oscillating from one end of the pitch to another at a high rate. Brough had a great chance to score for Alcuin but hit the post. Goodricke however scored first blood when Thurloway was unable to get a good enough hand on the ball tpping it into his own net, scoring Goodrickes only goal of the competition.
Alcuin despite being the better team were behind and heading out. However they weren’t done yet and went on the offensive . The pressure showed and Brough converted a corner into a goal through a absolutely brutal header to make it 1-1.
The match continued on at a ferocious pace with it all still to play for, Avramidis’s free kick elicited a save from Thurloway and Goodricke at this stage seemed to have the upper hand. As the match drew to a conclusion Goodricke threw the kitchen sink at Alcuin and Thurloway was on the end of some crunching tackles which controversially were not penalised by the referee. However this had no effect on the match outcome and the final whistle came to joyous scenes from the Alcuin players.
Goodricke captain Dan Weston told Vision “Gutted to be out, but i’m proud of the guys, we played well today and I think we have a lot to be proud of!”
His Alcuin counterpart Ben Bugeja was other the moon, “i’m delighted, we gave 100% today, granted Goodricke played really well as well, but its always good to get through at the expense of our arch rivals. On his sides chances in the vase he said “I don’t see why we can’t go for it, we’ve got Derwent 5’s next and we’ll certainly give it all we’ve got.”