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Photos: Oliver Todd
A first half hat-trick from David Kirk ensured that Derwent 1sts cruised to a 7-0 victory over Langwith 3rds in a game in which many had expected Derwent to reach double figures.
The biggest mismatch in this year’s College Cup did not turn out to be the biggest mauling however, as, after going into the break 6-0 up, Derwent stuttered in the second half, only managing the odd goal despite total domination.
Credit must be paid to Langwith ‘keeper Steve Le Cornu, who made several smart saves to keep the scoreline mildly respectable. He denied Kirk on several occasions in the second half, most notably with an excellent stop with an outsprawled foot eight minutes from time.
He was aided at times by some desperate defending – three times Derwent saw efforts cleared off the line in scrambled fashion.
In truth though, it was all too easy for Derwent to cut through the Langwith defence – within 30 seconds of kick-off Sam Earle cut straight through the heart of the back four only to see his shot comfortably stopped by Le Cornu.
It only took two minutes for them to find the back of the net, Joe Easter grabbed the opener before Derwent doubled their lead three minutes later.
This time Easter was provider, he played a ball across the D from the right which the Langwith defence failed to deal with, allowing David Kirk to finish simply at the back post.
It was three inside 10 minutes, and at this point it looked as if it was going to be an extremely long afternoon for the men in yellow.
This time it was Sam Earle. After being felled 20 yards from goal, he got up to take the free kick himself, bending it round the wall and into the bottom left corner.
The fourth came four minutes later and was arguably the goal of the game. Kirk received the ball with his back to goal and executed a clever flick to turn his man, before lobbing the bouncing ball over Le Cornu and into the net.
Derwent continued to boss the game, with Langwith being penned back in their own half and offering nothing in terms of attacking threat. The biggest cheer of the game came on the quarter hour mark when Alex Billings broke down the right and into the final third, only to scuff his cross out of play.
A minute later and Derwent had made it 5-0, Jamie Trant rounding Le Cornu and slotting home.
They continued to keep up the pace of a goal every three minutes when Kirk completed his hat-trick moments later. A run from Trant down the left and ball across the face of goal was met by a cool Kirk finish to complete a first half hat-trick.
Derwent failed to add to their tally in the remaining 10 minutes of the half, but they did grab their seventh just two minutes into the second period.
A ball from Alex D’Albertanson cut through the Langwith defence and Ryan Gwinnett latched onto it and finished well to heap further woe on the men in yellow.
They were spared further blushes however, as they managed to see out the remaining 28 minutes without conceding a goal. Earle forced two good saves out of Le Cornu and Atherton, Kirk and D’Albertanson all came close, the latter seeing an effort come back off the crossbar.
They were unable to beat Le Cornu for an eighth time though, meaning they failed to come close to James 1sts 12-0 mauling of Goodricke 3rds earlier in the competition. Group qualification, however, is all but certain.
It was actually Danny Brooks that broke away down the wing for Langwith.