With both these teams losing 3 and drawing 1 of their combined previous 4 College Cup games, it is safe to say Goodricke 2nds and Alcuin 3rds have not had the best of tournaments. That was evidenced by a very cagey affair between two sides lacking in confidence, occasional pieces of individual brilliance only slightly brightening the contest on an overcast and windy day.
The men from Heslington East had the first chance of the match, Mizan Ali shooting just wide of the right hand post having turned inside the box. Alcuin responded with two chances of their own, Reda Bouchaib failing to capitalise on a badly misplaced clearance by Matt Whelan, missing the target from 25 yards, before his strike partner Del Johal fired a rasping volley from an angle which was gathered well under his crossbar by Tom Neill.
The lower ranked XI were playing very nice football at this stage, and their dominance was pressed home midway through the first half. Bouchaib and Johal linked up well, the former passing into space for the latter to score left footed via a deflection into the right hand corner. After the goal, they did not stop attacking, nearly increasing their lead when corner produced a scramble, Ben Ward having a shot cleared off the line, the Goodricke defence at sixes and sevens. However, just before half time, Goodricke nearly equalised when Nick Dheir’s low shot from outside the box just went the wrong side of Peter Sutton’s left post.
With the score at 1-0 to Alcuin at half time, Goodricke captain Matt Thomas’s team talk must have inspired his team as they came out playing a lot better. They linked up with greater fluency and seemed to have a togetherness that was lacking in the first half, yet it was a piece of individual brilliance that brought the equaliser, a long throw causing havoc in the Alcuin box before Christian Hammer backheeled it on the half volley over the head of Sutton into the far corner. A contender for goal of the tournament, surely?
Alcuin brought on some substitutes and one of them, centre half John Carney, did not ingratiate himself well on the game, slicing into his own net from an innocuous centre to make the score 2-1. The men in red in truth did not have an attempt on goal all of the second half as Goodricke looked to increase the scoreline, Danny Brickwood producing a last gasp block tackle to deny substitute Doug Lawson before Nick Dhier hit the post with an audacious looping volley from all of 45 yards, which, had it gone in, would have rivalled Hammer’s flick for goal of the game, and the whole of College Cup 2011. The score ended 2-1 to Goodricke, deserved on their second half dominance, yet Alcuin can take credit for a spirited first half showing against an ultimately better team.
Man of the Match – Christian Hammer: The game did not really have many standout performances, but his goal alone is worthy of the accolade.